Revelations V2
by EleBell
Summary: Returning to Hogwarts for his sixth year, Harry has found a new determination to strike out on his own and prepare for his looming battle with Voldemort. Along the way he will find a teacher, a mentor and a friend in the unlikeliest of places. Note: This is an alternate version of Revelations in which the relationship between Harry and Draco is platonic. Otherwise it's the same.
1. Coming Home

**A/N:**

**Altered as of 1/6/2015**

**I've added a bunch of stuff to this chapter as filler, but if you started the story before it was changed you won't miss anything important..I didn't CHANGE anything, just tried to flesh it out a bit so that it wasn't so short.**

**-Elebelle**

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12/13/2012

8/22/2013

1/6/2015

**-Revelations-**

**Chapter One**

**Prologue**

**Coming Home**

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Dim light filtered through the rain spattered window of the smallest bedroom on the second floor of Number Four Privet Drive. There was only a week of summer left until Harry could leave for his home at Hogwarts. The thought of leaving his relative's house for the year in such a short time both made him weary and excited. He felt as though he was almost to the point where he could breath again without being on edge all the time and that maybe he could shed some of the stress he was under on a constant basis. At the same time he thought that maybe it was a dream, thinking that way with Voldemort about all the time, running rampant, unchecked and unacknowledged.

Harry could scarcely imagine a time where he wouldn't be on edge anymore, he tried to remember how it felt to be carefree and it seemed as though the memory of it was so faded that he just couldn't seem to get a grasp on it. Like taking a drink of lemonade only to find out it was always water..something was missing and he was beginning to feel it was always that way ... even though he really did know better.

He knew there were times that he was happy for no apparent reason. Happiness for the sake of itself... He knew there was a time not too long ago that he didn't worry day to day, second to second, what could..or what terrible thing would happen next. The confrontation with Professor Dumbledore at the end of last year ahd left him so drained of hope that he didn't know where he would find the strength to do what he knew he must.

Things had just gotten worse from that moment onward.

Harry tried to owl his friends, tried to keep in touch and tried so hard not to lose himself in his grief over what had happened to Sirius and his friends. He wrote a letter a day to each Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Luna and all the others that were with him that night. A letter a day for a week. When no responses came for that week he wrote two letters a day to his best friends for another week, and when still no responses came he waited. He stopped writing for a week and sat at his bedroom window, watching the skies and torturing himself for what he had done to the people he cared for the most.

Finally he got a letter. It wasn't from any of his friends though. It wasn't even really a letter, more of a missive... from Dumbledore, and not even in the curling script he had come to know from him. He hadn't even taken the time to write it himself.

"Headquarters at Grimmauld Place are simply not safe, Harry." Dumbledore had told someone else to tell him.

Exactly how much safer could Harry get than under the Fideleus Charm, anyway?

"We cannot risk your safety and well being without the protection that your aunt's home provides." He had said in the letter.

At least the headmaster had the decency to refrain from calling this place his home. The last line in the not-so-much-a-letter had cemented his disdain though.

"We will have to take care this year to limit correspondence to and from both Privet Drive and Grimmauld Place." Had resulted in a single one paragraph letter, written jointly from Ron and Hermione, in which they had given him zero information on either themselves or the order's efforts.

The few sneak peaks he'd had of the telly while cleaning up meals for the Dursleys had given him more information than anyone in the wizarding world seemed to think he needed. Seemingly random home invasions and grisly murders with no suspects and no leads were rampant across the country. People were scared and still, they were not scared enough...had no idea what they were afraid of, and no way to help themselves.

Harry was restless. He was angry. He felt at fault and unable to do anything about it. So he busied himself with menieal tasks around the outside of the house whenever he could. He thought that maybe getting out and doing something exausting might keep his mind off of what had happened at the end of the school year, and he was right.

Weeding the flower gardens and digging a new vegatable garden with the sun beating down on his back each day did just that. The burning in his chestfrom exertion and the sorness in his muscles was very much a distraction.

Each night when he lay in bed, showered and exahusted.. he still couldn't sleep though. Distractions they might be, his self-imposed chores were not enough to keep at bay the nightmares he suffered in his isolation.

Harry had taken to keeping a journal instead of writing his friends, as is seemed that they were plenty satisfied with doing exactly what the Headmaster told them to do and any letters he sent out managed to find their way back in Number Four, atop his writing desk nearly five minutes after he sent them anyway. Harry was beginning to suspect that Hedwig was not amused by the method with whitch her letters were taken from her either, watever that method may be, because her feathers had started to ruffle every time she saw him take out parchment or a quill for a while.

So he would lay in bed for a while every night, then he would sit up on the edge, head in his hands.. just thinking and regretting.. then he would write in his journal until he physically could not stay awake anymore, sometimes longer. He would either crawl into bed and sleep for a few hours. wake up and write until the sun came up or he would find himself unconcious come morning at his writing desk. Either way the result was the same. He slept, but no true res came for Harry Potter for the whole of summer.

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The last week leading up to his departure for Hogwarts was when Harry realized how quiet it was around Number Four. The Dursleys had left him to his own devices this summer and the last week proved the same as the ones before, except not Harry noticed the unusualness of it. Harry couldn't remember one snide comment, or truth be told, one comment at all sent in his general direction from any of the Dursley family members this summer. With a half hearted shrug Harry stored the information in the back of his mind and in his journal to ponder over at another time. At the moment he had friends waiting outside for him.

The few items that he did unpack from his trunk were replaced and most of the last days of his summer were spent staring out the window at night with his open jounal in his lap, writing. Many days were filled with sitting in the back garden chatting with a small nest of tiny green garden snake hatchlings he had rescued from a cat that had found them behind the tool shed early on in his construction of the vegatable garden. On rainy days he would bring all of them inside to sleep in his bedside drawer and toss dead flies to the hatchlings while the mother hunted.

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Finally the day came to leave Little Whinging and Harry sat atop his trunk by the front door awaiting a taxi his uncle had called for. When it arrived he stuffed his trunk into the rear and stared out the window for the long trip.

Harry had come to a conclusion on the night of his birthday that summer, he needed to step up his determination to be ready for Voldemort when the time came. His luck would run out one day and he needed to be prepared. The problem with this new realization? Determination and motivation went hand in hand and he simply was not feeling very motivated to find a way to confront a maniac.

Ron and Hermione could barely get two words out of him on the train and the carriage rides to the castle. Yes, he was very happy to see them. No, He was not angry with them for not writing. No, he was not depressed. Yes, he was sure.

As the trio filed into the Great Hall with the other students to await the first years Harry smiled. He was HOME.

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**A/N:**

_**(The sorting song is slightly changed in my version, a word or line here and there)**_

**-Elebelle**

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The whole school waited with bated breath as the rip near the hat's brim opened wide like a mouth and The Sorting Hat burst into song:

In times of old when I was new

And Hogwarts barely started

The founders of our noble school

Thought never to be parted:

United by a common goal,

They had the selfsame yearning,

To make the world's best magic school

And pass along their learning.

"Together we will build and teach!"

The founders then decided

And never did they dream that they

Wouldwere there such friends anywhere

As Slytherin someday be divided,

For and Gryffindor?

Unless it was the other pair

Of Hufflupuff and Ravenclaw?

So how could it have gone so wrong?

How could such friendships fail?

Why, I was there so I can tell

The whole sad, sorry tale.

Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those whose ancestry is purest."

Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach all those whose intelligence is surest."

Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those with brave deeds to their names."

Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot and treat them all the same.

These differences did cause much strife

When first they came to light,

For now each four raised up their voice

And Hogwarts was divided.

Where six once stood, two had died

To stop the pointless fighting.

And buried deep, the shadows keep

The key for those Invited.

As silent guard, in times of need

Descendants shall appear.

Of the two who lost their lives,

To teach you fight the feared.

Now she comes to set things right,

As one we'll stand United.

Right now The Sorting Hat is here,

And all now know the score:

I sort you into houses

Because that's what I'm for,

This year I'll go further,

Listen closely to my song:

Though condemned I am to split you

Still I worry that it's wrong,

Though I must fulfill my duty

And must quarter every year

Still I wonder whether sorting

May not cause that which I fear.

Oh know the perils, read the signs,

The warning history shows,

For our Hogwarts is in danger

From external, deadly foes.

We must unite inside her

Or we'll crumble from within

I have told you, I have warned you...

Let the sorting now begin.

With that the torn brim of the hat sealed itself shut and it sat very still on the wooden stool that same way it did every year, waiting to be lifted on to the heads of the first years who were all gaping at it in astonishment.

"Branched out a bit this year, hasn't it?" said Ron, his eyebrows raised. A shush from Hermione and shrug from Harry were his only direct responses, but the hall was filled with the buzzing of murrmurs. No one knew what to make of the Hat's cryptic messages and many wre confused by some of the things it had said. Even the head table was restless, the teachers all looking at one another for answers.

The Sorting hat usually confined itself to describing the different qualities looked for by each house and it's own role in sorting them. Harry could not ever remember the hat trying to give the school advice before. He resolved to remember the song as best he could and write it down once he got up to Gryffindor Tower and had quill and parchment within reach.

The hat's song had struck something inside him and he felt as though something was going to happen this year that had not happened in a very long time in the wizarding world. If the hat's hints were to be interpreted as he guessed, Hogwarts could be united in a way that the magical world had never seen before. Harry couldn't decide wether he was romanticizing it or not. Equal parts hope and dread filled him as he felt the ever familiar sting of walking on knife's edge yet again.

If the Sorting Hat meant that somehow the wizarding world was going to come together to fight Voldemort ... then he wanted the hat to be right. He needed it to be right. This war was killing their world and the proof was staring at him through the faces of the eleven year olds that came to Hogwarts this year.

There were fewer new students attending this year than he had ever seen. Twenty or so, if that. Their names and houses eluded Harry as he stared at the head table and into the new face he saw there. There sat a woman with the strangest coloring that Harry had ever seen. He, along with the rest of the school easily assumed she wasn't fully human and Harry wondered if the Headmaster remembered what happened the last time he hired someone who wasn't fully human. Remus Lupin had been their best teacher to date, sure.. but he did after all try to eat them at one point.

The headmaster must Have been hard pressed to find new DADA teachers after the past few had left and shared and their experiences here. His attention turned to his classmates and he was drawn into relaxed conversation, smiling and laughing, but in the back of his mind there lingered something he didn't want to name, something that made him think that he might in fact be able to muster up some of that elusive motivation he needed to prepare himself for the future that awaited him. As he glanced again at the new teacher and caught her eye, there was a sneaking suspicion that Dumbledore had even more secrets this year than the last, and that didn't sit well with Harry.

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**A/N:**

**Well, there it is. The first chapter of Revelations. I hope that it makes you want to press that little button in the corner. Yeah. That one. Right there. The one that says next. Oh! The one that says Review is good too! Let me know if you like it!**

**-Elebelle**


	2. Strange Beginnings

**-ALTERED AS OF 1/6/2015-**

**Also: SilverTongue has been up on the site, but blank..soon I will be taking it down totally since I've replaced it with Revelations.**

**All things considered, I hope everyone that reads my story is enjoying it. Comments would be appreciated just to let me know if anyone thinks the story is worth continuing.**

**... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

_Previously:_

_Harry had come to a conclusion on the night of his birthday that summer, he needed to step up his determination to be ready for Voldemort when the time came. His luck would run out one day and he needed to be prepared. The problem with this new realization? Determination and motivation went hand in hand and he simply was not feeling very motivated to find a way to confront a maniac._

_He wanted the hat to be right. He needed it to be right. This war was killing their world and the proof was staring at him through the faces of the eleven year olds that came to Hogwarts this year._

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1/8/2013

8/22/2013

1/2/2015

1/6/2015

**-Revelations-**

**Chapter Two**

**Strange Beginnings**

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Sleep was never something Harry looked forward to. When he was growing up he had Dudley's torments to have nightmares about, and now at 16 he had Voldemort's torments to have nightmares about. Needless to say nightmares and more nightmares are not particularly conducive to a restful night of sleep.

Here at Hogwarts, Harry didn't have the mindless work he had set himself at his Aunt's house to exaust him and let him sleep. Every night when he curled into his red and gold sheets in Gryffindor Tower, Harry fully expected to be woken by some or the other horrifying image. Tnight was no exception to that. Saying that he had woken up in a foul mood was an understatement. Restless nights filled with dream memories of a woman screaming or a boy dying...flashes of green light..a fluttering veil...and to top it all off a splitting headache every morning were beginning to weigh on Harry. The more he slept the lest rested he became.

Missing breakfast with his year mates and running to his first Defense class trying fruitlessly to be there on time just added to his first day home starting off lousy. Hastily buttoning his robes on the run downstairs, he slowed to a halt with his hand on the knob of the DADA classroom to catch his breath and compose himself. _So much for good first impressions Harry._ he thought to himself as he turned the knob and stepped inside.

Harry's sloppily buttoned robes slid off one shoulder as he slumped against the door frame and stared at the empty classroom. _Great. Looks like today is going to be one of those_ _days_.

He pulled out his schedule and looked it over carefully. He was in the right place at the right time, granted about five or ten minutes late, so where was everyone? Glancing about the deserted room he sighed and closed the door, heading back to Gryffindor Tower. He would deal with his missed class when it came up, for now he would take the opportunity to try and get some much needed rest that eluded him during his sleep, it was time to get out his journal and do some writing.

He tossed his bag onto one end of the red couch when he made it back to the common room and sat himself on the other, one journal and one muggle ballpoint pen in hand as he settled in for a good long session of ranting to some blank pages.

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_Harry could hear the rain pelting the roof of his master's new nest and the distant cries and screams of pain from the 'false humans' his master had told him of as he slowly slid along in the shadows of the hallways. He was heading to the light from a crack in the door at the very end where his master slept...he could small the fear coming from the room and it excited him as he made his way inside and pulled himself upright to slide into his master's lap to be stroked. _

_"Nagini, I have a tasty little traitor for you tonight." Came the harsh tones of his master "Narcissa does not wish her precious son Draco to join our noble cause. She has tried to run away with him to France and that is not acceptable"_

_Harry felt a rush of pleasure as his master scratched at the peeling skin between his eyes and stood with him to lay him on the lap of the fearful mother bound to the chair before him._

_"Remember my dear Nagini, just a nip...I want her to feel pain for her attempted treachery. She will not be allowed the comfort of death just yet. Now, play nice with your new toy." With that, his master turned and smiled an evil smile, walking out of the room and closing the door behind him. He swiveled his head to stare into the frightened and tearful eyes of the woman before him, leaning close enough to taste her skin with a quick dart of his tongue and draw a whimper from her throat. It was always more fun when his master left his toys unbound so that he could stalk him, but this was good too. He leaned back and opened his mouth to hiss at the woman, he liked working them up before he struck. A strangled scream and_

_... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..._

"Harry! _HARRY!_" Ginny's voice shook him from the nightmare as he bolted upright on the couch in Gryffindor Tower. His breath came in short bursts and he clutched his head with both hands as though squeezing it would make the pain stop.

"Harry! You were hissing in your sleep...are you alright?" The sweet concern Ginny showed him did nothing for the self disgust he felt that moment. He stood and choked out a strangled "Just a nightmare." as he turned and climbed the stairs to the sixth year boy's dorm and the showers he desperately felt the need to get to.

Ginny's concerned voice rang behind him as he nearly ran up the steps but he didn't hear the words. No, sleep was not something Harry looked forward to. He dreaded it and had just been given a vivid reminder of why he felt that way. Shedding his attire, Harry ran the water as hot as it could go and scrubbed his skin until it was raw as though he could rid himself of the evil he felt with the burning water and furious washing. Nausea clutching at him the whole time. He didn't know how long he stood there in the water, but when he finally made his way out and into the dorm he found Ron sitting on his bed waiting for him.

"Hey Harry"

"Hey Ron"

"You missed Defense this morning. No one could wake you for breakfast."

"Yeah. Sorry."

"It was brilliant. The new teacher took us all to the edge of the lake and taught us about water pixies. They're kinda cool, not at all like the cornish ones that dunce Lockheart set loose before."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. So When I got back Ginny just about attacked me. She told me about waking you up, said she found you having a fit in your sleep when she came in."

"It wasn't a fit. It was just a stupid nightmare."

"Maybe you should talk to Dumbledore about it, Harry."

"I'm _fine_ Ron. It was just a stupid dream, like I said."

With that Harry, freshly dressed, turned hand on the doorknob, made to leave the dorm and start on his way to the fifth floor and the Charms classroom. He would be early but maybe the class wouldn't leave him and go gallivanting off to the lake this time.

"Harry." Ron's voice was just a whisper and it made Harry's grip on the brass tighten a bit in anticipation of a fight.

"What, Ron?" Harry tried to make his impatience sound convincing to cover the way he really felt.

"Ginny said this fell off your chest when she woke you."

Harry's head whipped around, eyes widening and vision narrowing to a pinprick and washing the world out in a wave of pure white for a moment when he saw what Ron held out toward him. _My Journal. No._

"Thanks." Came out strangled from the tightness caused by the massive lump in his throat and sudden dryness of his mouth. He gingerly took the muggle notebook from Ron and turned back to exit the dorm room once more.

He pulled his robes tighter and crossed his arms over his chest as he immersed himself in thoughts of the dream that unnerved him so much. Why was he having dreams of being Nagini? Why would he dream of Narcissa trying to save her son from becoming a Death Eater? None of it made any sense and as he wrapped himself in his thoughts it was not the charms classroom he found himself in front of, but the blank stretch of wall that disguised the Room of Requirement. Throwing his head back with a sigh Harry turned and started to make his way back two floors below to his original destination when a stray thought stopped him. _This is how I can do it. The Room of Requirement can provide everything I need to ready myself for Voldemort. _He turned a critical eye to the blank wall and smiled grimly. _Maybe here I can find a way to be strong enough."_

"Is that wall very interesting, Mr. Potter?" A soft feminine voice startled him out of his thoughts and he jumped, startled turning his head slowly to face the person speaking to him. _The new teacher. I swear she wasn't there a minute ago when I was walking that way._ She pulled a long braid of her strange long silver hair over her shoulder and stared at him with equally strange violet eyes and a small smile that mocked him. _I know what you're thinking...I know what you're doing.._that smile seemed to whisper to him as she made her way leisurely toward where he stood. Something about this new teacher screamed danger to him and yet he didn't feel threatened the way he felt he should as she trailed her fingers over the blank wall he had been staring at.

"You missed my lesson today, Mr. Potter. Is this wall what drew you away? It's very interesting. I can see why it would lure you here." As she lazily pulled her fingers away from the stone Harry thought he saw a small spark of blue between her skin and the stone. She looked at him again with that unnerving, all-knowing smirk.

"No. I was late and by the time I got there the classroom was empty."

"Well, I do believe we can work out a time that you can make up the class. How would this afternoon once you're finished with your classes for the day sound?"

"You're letting me make up a class I missed?"

"Of course. I would do the same for any students that are willing."

"Thanks. I'll see you after classes then. Should I just go to the Defense classroom?"

"Yes. I'll walk you to the lake so you're not wandering the halls at night. It will be just after curfew when we finish."

"Thanks again. I better get going before I miss Charms." He motioned over his shoulder and walked backwards toward the stairway.

"Five pm sharp, Mr. Potter. You should know I don't wait for tardy students"

"I'll be there. thanks again." Harry turned and made his way to Charms pondering over the chance meeting and planning on ways to utilize the Room of Requirement after his unexpected make-up class.

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**A/N**

**Hope you all enjoyed it! Read on, review if you can bring yourself to and I hope I don't dissapoint.**

**-Elebelle**


	3. The First Revelation - Forgotten Times

**A/N:**

**Altered as of 1/14/2015**

**There has been quite a bit of content added to this chapter and I very very much reccommend re-reading it if you've started the story before 1/7/2015.**

**As I seem to be having a little trouble with where I want the story to go quite yet, the chapters are still very short. Hopefully no one will hold it against me since it's still early on.**

**Thank you all for reading and as always Reviews would be appreciated.**

**-Elebelle**

**... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

_Previously:_

_Sleep was never something Harry looked forward to. Restless nights filled with dream memories of a woman screaming or a boy dying...flashes of green light..a fluttering veil...and to top it all off a splitting headache every morning were beginning to weigh on Harry. The more he slept the lest rested he became._

_..._

_"Harry! HARRY!" Ginny's voice shook him from the nightmare as he bolted upright on the couch in Gryffindor Tower. His breath came in short bursts and he clutched his head with both hands as though squeezing it would make the pain stop._

_..._

_Why was he having dreams of being Nagini? Why would he dream of Narcissa trying to save her son from becoming a Death Eater? None of it made any sense and as he wrapped himself in his thoughts is was not the charms classroom he found himself in front of, but the blank stretch of wall that disguised the Room of Requirement. Throwing his head back with a sigh Harry turned and started to make his way back two floors below to his original destination when a thought stopped him. This is how I can do it. The Room of Requirement can provide everything I need to ready myself for Voldemort. He turned a critical eye to the blank wall and smiled grimly. Maybe here I can find a way to be strong enough."_

_..._

_"You missed my lesson today, Mr. Potter. Is this wall what drew you away? It's very interesting. I can see why it would lure you here." As she lazily pulled her fingers away from the stone Harry thought he saw a small spark of blue between her skin and the stone. She looked at him again with that unnerving smile._

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5/16/2013

8/22/2013

1/2/2015

1/7/2015

1/14/2015

**-Revelations-**

**Chapter Three**

**The First Revelation**

**Forgotten Times**

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Afer Harry's encounter with the new professor, he found it espically hard to focus on any one singular thought for the rest of the day. He had so many questions, ideas and emotions running through him that he simply couldn't pay attention to any one thought for more than just a minute or two before he was distracted by something else.

Should he tell Ron and Hermione about his plans to exploit the room of requirement? What, if anything, did his recent dreams where he embodied Voldemort's pet snake mean? Why was their new defense teacher acting so mysterious? Most importantly the unnerving absence of Draco Malfoy from all the double classes held with both Gryffindor and Slytherin for the first week of classes weighed on him. His friends kept shooting him concerned glances and whispered inquires that he brushed off, but they poked and prodded and frayed his already sleep deprived nerves.

When the last class ended he was more than ready to get away from everybody and made excuses not to accompany his house mates to the tower. He headed, over an hour early toward the third floor and the Defense classroom.

Hopefully he could have an hour to sit and think while he waited for the professor and he thought the time alone could give him a reprieve from the unexplained anxiety he felt. It could also provide him some time to collect his thoughts in his journal and try to make sense of the past few days. 

This year was just begun, only a week into term and it was already starting off ominous. That didn't bode well for him and he felt as though something was about to happen that would turn his world upside down.

There was an undeniable and unshakeabe sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, a knotted ball of nerves and anxiety that lead him to feel as if there was danger near. That feeling coupled with the stress that he was under from the strange dreams he had been having all summer, piled onto the grief over what had happened Sirius and the guilt for his friends injuries from the very same night.. alongside the twitchy and ever-distracted feeling of being on edge every waking moment, caused by the lack of decent sleep... Well... Harry was a right _mess_.

If he'd learned anything in the past few years of living in the magical world though, it was that his instincts had rarely led him astray. Harry couldn't help but listen to his baser instincts at this point, his paranoia had saved his life too many times and though he may now question it, after the events of last year, he still couldn't ignore what his body was trying to tell him. If he could just figure out what the message was then he'd be all set, but aparently that was just too easy. He picked up his pace, impatient to get some time alone with his journal away from prying and questioning eyes.

All thoughts of his journal vanished from his mind and were replaced with a slightly frantic state of being as Harry approached the classroom. He wasnt gping to get that time alone after all, it would seem. He pushed aside the emotions filling him, not willing to examine or deal with them right at that moment and listened closer to the soft, yet frantic voices that greeted him as he turned the last corner into the hallway near his destination. He quietly made his way to the door but he couldn't make out what they were saying.

He was fully unprepared for the sight that greeted him as he pushed the door open was one he could barely believe. Draco Malfoy leaned casually against the professor's desk, grey eyes locked with his, equally shocked. Harry clutched his Defense book and journal to his chest as he stared between the two figures in the room in disbelief. Malfoy had been missing from all classes, and rightly the entire school and grounds for the whole week, since term began and all of the sudden he was just _here_? In the place where Harry was supposed t be making up a missed class, draco Malfoy just decides to show up? The universe couldn't hate Harry that much.

There was no self important smirk or haughty expression on Draco Malfoy's face as he stared back at Harry, only the same shock that Harry had seen reflected from his own reaction. He looked disheveled, hair astray, clothes rumpled and face drawn taught with worry or stress.

Malfoy broke his gaze from Harry and looked to their professor, slipping away from the desk. Harry could feel the confusion welling up inside himself and mixing with everything else that he had pushed away and bottled up within himself since the dreams started this summer, he was ready to virtually explode.

"You're Early Mr. Potter. Come, there are many things we must discuss. I hope you are not too adverse to Mr. Malfoy joining us this evening, he has also missed today's lesson." His professor easily distracted him from his volcanic rush of emotion and ushered him inside, through a side door and into her office through off of the classroom. He and Draco both sat in plush chairs while she seated herself behind the desk that separated them. Neither acknoledged the other at first, both refusing to look in even the general direction of the other and staring sullenly at their professor.

"I've told both of you seperately, and will tell you again. I'm willing to let you make up this class because it's so early on in the year. I don't want either of you to mistake this for something that it's not though. If missing class becomes a regular occurance, then make-up lessons will not be provided and you will fail my class. Am I understood?"

"Yes Ma'am"

"Yes, Professor."

"Good. You both brought your books and I highly reccommend leaving them here. The water pixies are much more active at this time, during the evening hours and early night time as opposed to when your fellow classmates saw them today." With that she turned and left the room, calling to them over her shoulder for them to follow.

.. . ... ... . .. .. ... .. . .. .. . .. . .. . ... .. . .

The whole walk down to the lake was silent as far as the two teens were concerned. Neither listened to the professor's words as she led them outside and instead settled themselves into a comfortable level of brooding.

They walked around the shoreline of the black lake until they reached the other side. It was quite a trek but well worth it as they could see their destination clearly. They didn't know that this was their destination because they had been told, but rather because the entire water's edge ten yards ahead of them literally glowed. The plants around a certian stretch of the shoreline had a captivating glow to them. It was something akin to bioluminescence but instead of coming from within the plants, it seemd to radiate from the surface of them, in varyng degrees of intensity and shades of color.

They could see the pixies, little specs of light flitting to and fro, but as they made to approach the area they both found themselves rooted to the spot, distracted and unable to focus on the pixies for more than a second or two. Dazed, the boys looked to their professor, only to see three little lights hovering before her face as she spoke softly to them and then gave them each something small from within the pocket of her cloak. They were beginning to feel slightly drowsy as she turned and approached them.

"Potter. Malfoy. Focus." She snapped her fingers in front of their faces in turn until they were both focused on her face alone. "All pixies and fae use certian types of magical focus. Each type is vastly different from the magical focus that wizards and witches typically use." Professor Shutomi explained.

"These particular water pixies use a kind of enchantment that is focused through the lights you see. They use magic to deter predators, including but not limited to humans and other pixies from their homes." She paused and took someting from her cloak pocket, holding it out towards them.

"Open your hands." She said and when they complied a few strange seeds were dropped into each of their possession. "These are rare magical water plant seeds. If you want to mingle with or study the pixies then you must come bearng gifts. Seeds are the best but please be mindful of what you give them. Giving a water pixie a cactus seed, for example, would do you both bno good. They can't grow them and if they could, they would have o use for a cactus. You won't gain entry to their hollows that way."

Professor Shutomi placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and steered him toward the pixie lights at the water's edge, saying "The idea is to notice the lights, recognise what the lights mean, and then focus on something else until you present your gift and ask for entrance. Just keep it simple and ask to join them for a short time tonight." With that, she gave him a push forward and took a few steps back toward Draco to watch how he did on his own.

"This is a Nahre Lotus seed." Draco said, staring at the little golden bead in his hand.

"So it is." Professor Shutomi chuckled, crossing her arms and watching as Harry spoke softly to the three pixies in front of him.

"Why would you give up something like this?" He asked breathlessly

"Why not? The pixies have so much use for something like that."

"This is one of the most rare plant seeds in the whole of our world and you're just going to give it away?" The incredulousness in Draco's voice raised his pitch and Professor Shutomi had to rub at her ears before answering.

"Your world."

"What?"

"You said that it was rare in our world. This isn't _our_ world, this is _your_ world Draco Malfoy." She said and when he looked up from the seed to her face those piercing silver-purple eyes stared through him and looked at something else, something beyond him. That look made all the hair on his arms and the back of his neck stand on end for a moment while he held her gaze. FInally she smiled and looked away, continuing as though she had ever said that or looked at him that way and she had him repeat Harry's actions with the pixies.

Once all three of them were sitting cross-legged at the water's edge she told them that they were going to be learning a lot more about the water pixies in Hagrid's class next week and she was only there to discuss that type of magic they used.

"Something that wizards and witches commonly forget is that there is only one type of magic.. the difference from witch to elf to pixie is nothing more than the focus the use to channel magic. Some need a different style of focus because they are magical beings and they channel magic directly from themselves, others use a focus to channel maic from the earth and still others from the air. " She explained

"The ministry of Magic here in Grat Britian would have you believe that some beings are lesser than you because they are less magical, which is simply not true. They just don't harness magic in the same way wizards do."With a grimace she trailed her fingers through the water's surface and looked at Harry and Draco in turn.

"There are three main types of focus for channeling magic. Spiritual, Physical and Lifeforce. Who can tell me what kind of focus pixies use?"

"I think maybe they use a physical focus, because of the lights." Harry suggested.

"I agree." Draco said

"You're both wrong then." The professor said. "Pixies actually use a Spiritual focus. The lights you see can't be touched, can they? No. Because they are actually the incandecent remmanant of the pixies using their own souls to connect with the ambient magic in the water of the lake. The lights are different colored because the color is based on what each individual pixie's soul is like. When the magic is drawn from the water and touches the pixie's spirit, the light is produced as a kind of byproduct of whatever enchantment the pixie has cast."

"That's... hard to understand." Draco said.

"Yes. That's why magical focus is a large part of the courseload this year."

"Oh."

"Indeed." With a sigh, she rose from her place in the dame mud and indicated they do the same. "That's all for now, boys. Let's get you both back up to the castle. Headmaster Dumbledore has given consent for me to give you each a seperate lesson this evening along with the one you missed during today's class."

"What kind of lesson?" Harry asked.

"The kind of lesson that you'll be getting three times a week for the rest of the year. Apart from your classmates."

"Individual lessons? Why wouldn't Dumbledore tell us about this himself ?" Harry asked, wondering correctly if these lessons were supposed to be more training like Dumbedore had tried with him last year. Occulmency lessons with Snape hadn't exactly gone as planned.

"The Headmaster is busy with things more important than you Potter." Draco snipped.

"What do you know about it, Malfoy?"

"Obviously more than you do."

The stinging sound of skin on skin rang through the area as the fierce woman before them slapped her hands together and sent a withering glare through them both.

"I don't particularly care what either of you thinks about the lessons or about one another. If this is going to work then you two will need to make an effort to get along. I won't stand idly by while you both indulge in petty insults. These lessons will be very important to you both and I don't have the time to teach you each on your own.

Both of you have been exposed to this war earlier than your peers and you need to accept that both of you are far more deeply involved than your peers, and even more deeply than you realize for yourselves yet.

I have been given the responsibility of training you and I would appreciate it if you didn't make my job any more difficult than it needs to be. I have over eight hundred years of knowledge to cram into your thick skulls andI need your cooperation."

Harry and Draco stood in stunned silence, feeling sufficiently belittled by those flaming violet eyes.

"Both of you will meet me shortly on the north landing of the seventh floor for our first...revelation." With that, their professor turned and left them to walk to the castle themselves as she headed into the ede of the Dark Forest.

Their eyes met and words were exchanged through a glance but left unspoken. For that moment at least, years of childish rivalry seemed to melt away with a war looming over them. The ongoing conflict was made just a bit more real for them both tonight, what with some woman they had just met shoving it in their faces via a dressing down that felt a lot more belittling than it sounded.

In that moment a tentative spark of trust, fueled by the hope of a better world and a new found maturity in each young man, began to form. Though neither would yet admit it to the other, both young men longed for someone to trust and someone to share their burdens with. Though neither dared yet voice it, they each longed to be able to find the reprieve in the other for reasons they could not explain.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

A brisk and silent walk later found both young men on the north landing of the seventh floor waitig for their strange new DADA professor. They didn't have to wait long forher to meet them, leaves in her hair and dirt under her nails.

She briskly escorted them to a stretch of wall that Harry was very familiar with. The room of requirement. Draco's puzzled expression only made Harry chuckle as their teacher paced back and forth before them. Grey eyes turned to him and narrowed as he just shook his head.

"You'll see, Malfoy. Just give her a moment." The door appeared and puzzlement turned to curiosity in those eyes as Draco turned to the professor.

They walked into an empty room, void of any furnishings and lit only by a dozen candles on the far end near the wall.

Scanning the room with a deep breath and striding to them she crossed her arms began to pace, eyes filled with despair before drifting closed as she remembered things long forgotten.

"Things are not always as they seem, consider this an unofficial lesson in life and reality. Many things from the history of the wizarding world are a mystery to all those in it, they are not written in any textbook and they are not meant to be remembered, that is how these things go sometimes." She drew in a deep breath and opened her eyes, arms still crossed over her breast she turned to face away from their gazes. Her voice was loud and steady as she launched into her story.

"The history of Hogwarts as you know it is not the full story. In times of war, when the world is in danger of extinction, one of us appear. By 'us' I mean one of my race, we are a mostly forgotten and lost race, but nowhere near extinct, or even in danger of it, just expertly hidden. We have always been the protectors and the teachers of mankind, we've seen the birth, death and rebirth of time over and over again. Our home cannot be found by any, unless invited and always we are the guardians of magic. The way we use magic is very different from wizards and witches, therefore your way fascinates us." A small smile graced her lips at the last part as she turned to face them.

"If we, my race, were to be discovered…well, we'd be hunted. There are others like us and we are already in much danger, there are constant wars between different covens and clans amongst ourselves and we simply cannot afford to be found yet."

"I feel you must know that once this war is over and I have left, you and a very small group of others will be the only ones to remember the things you will learn during my stay. Oldest magic is done to ensure this, it will prevent you from telling any whom are not adorned with my mark. There are secrets of time that I will teach you both and they must stay as such. I am here to teach you and to watch over you and protect you until you learn what I was sent here to impart, but I will only fight if my people, or my family are in danger. I will not be involved in your war, because that is not my purpose. You both have been chosen to receive a gift, an inheritance from my people that is given to very few and given very rarely."

"And now, you shall get the story that you deserve, the real and true history of Hogwarts by her own memory." She walked slowly to the center of the room and crouching she placed two fingers on the stone floor and stood, drawing with her as she stood a column of multi-colored energy from the ground. When she was at her full height she flung her left arm into the air and the column of energy exploded the three found themselves in darkness for a few moments.

A dim light, the sound of rain, and they were all in a field, stretching as far as the eye could see, a massive lake of dark water stretched across the east of the field and a battle raged on the grounds, wizards and muggles, creatures of all sorts were on both sides. Blade on blade rending flesh from bone and limb from body, magic flashing in the rain, blood coated the ground and they fought. A flash of purple-tinted silver hair and they all watched as their new teacher fought ruthlessly, felling all those who crossed her path, her hair pulled from her face, eyes cold and steely, face blood spattered and smeared with things Draco and Harry would rather not think about. She looked dangerous and frightening as she disappeared into the fray nearly as soon as she had appeared, fighting alongside so many others.

They watched and knew that all on this field were fighting for a cause that no one remembered and they knew they were standing on the ground where Hogwarts would eventually be built. They couldn't tell you how they knew this, they just did.

The scene changed, no longer bloody and raining, a dozen figures stood in the middle of the field now. They watched as the group of creatures and humans spoke, watched as one human stormed off, and knew-though they could not hear- that they were coming to an agreement.

No more would they fight as they had, shed so much blood for a forgotten cause, they would live in alliance. They knew that the one whom had stormed off had been the muggle and there had begun the separation of technology and magic, a rift that would become commonplace and the only grudge left after this morning. They watched as the agreement was sealed with timeless magic and most went their own way, all but two. A woman with Purple-tinted silver hair and a man with long graying hair and a beard to match. They now knew, this was not their teacher that they had watched in fearless battle, there were subtle differences, a child in her arms now, they saw their teacher a small infant in her mother's arms and Merlin himself. They were to build Hogwarts, Merlin and this woman.

Again the scene changed and now Hogwarts was built, they were inside the great hall, but it was different. Lengthened now, it was almost twice the size of the hall Harry and Draco now knew. At the entrance, a stairwell appeared. Built directly into the wall and leading diagonally upward to lead into a walkway all the way around the entire hall, with no railings on it and almost four yards wide. The head table sat on the second level of a platform of three levels with a stairwell in the middle, from each level to the next. There were no house tables. Instead the room was filled with small square tables sitting six or eight each.

this was the original state of Hogwarts, it seemed. The woman and Merlin were both there, along with another man with long black hair and their teacher's eyes. She was there as well, and four others. Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin, Godric Griffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Elexa Shutomi and her parents along with Merlin gathered in the center of the hall and raised their arms. A flash of many colors and a misty figure stood before them, The figure smiled and faded. Hogwarts was born, created by the eight people, Hogwarts now had a mind and a soul all her own.

They all watched as Elexa's parents were called away, only for news to return that they had died. They watched as the last six opened the school, though two of them stayed hidden. They watched as there were good and bad times through the past and eventually the founders died and the remaining creator, Elexa, left the school. They watched as the eight faded into legend. They watched as four of them were forgotten their parts. They watched as Elexa came back and left again, many times. They watched as each time she was forgotten by but a few. Finally, they watched as she came now, and they watched themselves now, and they were back in the present, and this strange woman with violet eyes lay unconscious before them.

... ... ... ... ... ... .. ... ...

Speechless, both young men simply stared between the petite woman crumpled on the floor and one another. Slowly, ever so very slowly Harry turned to Malfoy and spoke.

"I guess this is what she meant yesterday when she said she had eight hundred years of stuff to teach us?"

Silence from the other boy greeted his comment for long seconds, until finally a derisive snort slipped from pale lips and Malfoy began to laugh.

"She can't be serious, that must have been some sort of test. It's rubbish, I mean how would we even know that Merlin was there when no one even bloody well said a word in all of it?" was sputtered out between chuckles. "Whatever she's trying to accomplish she looks ridiculous laying on the floor there" and he strode to the professor, nudging her side with a pointed black toe. "Come on, you're taking this a bit far, don't you think?" He asked as he tried to rouse her none too gently.

"Cut it out, Malfoy. I don't think she's faking." Harry leaned over to scoop the diminutive woman into his arms, only to find he could not lift her. He tried as hard as he could and he simply could not pick her up from the stone floor.

"What's the matter, Potter? Seven stone too heavy for you?"

"I would bloody well like to see you try to lift her, Malfoy! She must weigh closer to fifty stone!"

"Whatever, Potter. Move off." Face reddening with effort, Malfoy yet again turned a confused expression to Harry.

"What is she made of? Lead?" Rolling his grey eyes, Malfoy sat on the cold stone, against a wall with his legs stretched out before him, one knee bent and did his utmost to glare fiery holes into their Defense professor.

Joining him against the wall, even if nearly four meters separated them, Harry stole small glances at Malfoy, a deep frown on his face as he brooded. Are you honestly going to give thought to whether that little display is true, Harry? It cant be. It just can't. There's no way. What, why...it's just not possible. Is it? Drawing inane designs on the ground under him Harry fought with himself over what he had seen, still stealing glances every now and again at the other boy to see if he could make out Malfoy's thoughts on the matter, Harry let out a small sigh. Why do things like this always happen, huh? Chosen to compete in a contest that he wasn't even of age for, Chosen to defeat Voldemort, Chosen for some weird inheritance from some race that no one in the world even remembers? It Just can't be true. Malfoy's right. It has to be a test of some kind.

"Spill Potter." Malfoy's voice ripped him from his musings

"What?"

"You're staring. Stop."

"I'm not staring at you, prat."

"What the hell do you call it then, Potter? Keep your eyes to yourself. I don't appreciate being scrutinized."

"Despite what you might think, Malfoy, not everyone cares about you."

Malfoy flinched at that, which Harry barely caught and turned away from Harry's angered gaze with a huff.

"If you have something to say to me, Potter, than just get it done with and quit being all shifty and looking over here every two seconds like a nutter."

Harry was silent. Looking back in front of him he let loose a shrill screech that would shame Hermione and scrambled backwards to his feet and up the wall to his feet. With a hand pressed to his chest he closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall at his back, catching his breath.

"Don't bloody well DO that! Why were you a centimeter from my face in the first place? Don't you have any sense of personal boundaries?" Harry sputtered out, voice still well higher than normal as he looked down to find Professor Massuomi frozen in place where she had startled him, staring at his knees, where seconds before his eyes had been. Malfoy had jumped to his feet at Harry's scream and was now doubled over with his hands on his knees, not looking in Harry's direction.

"Uh? Professor?" Harry slowly slid along the wall behind him, out from in front of the woman and her head slowly followed his knees.

"Malfoy."

"What, Potter? Did you have to screech like a little girl?" Malfoy stood and finally looked over to Harry. "Why is she staring at your legs?"

"If I knew I'd bloody well make her stop wouldn't I? Make noise or something. Distract her."

"And have her be all creepy over here at me? No thanks, I think she's well and fine where she is. You deal with her."

"You bloody Prat. Help me or go and get someone who will."

"No thanks, Potter, I rather find this fairly amusing."

"You're a git, Malfoy."

At that, the professor's gaze flicked to Harry's face rapidly and with no warning. He held his breath as he looked into eyes that were no longer strange violet irises, but now purely purple from skin to skin with no white or pupils to be found. She rose abruptly to her feet and in the less time than it took Harry to blink she was no longer in front of him. Malfoy's sharp inhale of air told him all he needed to know, even before he turned.

The grey orbs, so distinctive to the other teen were hidden behind scrunched tight lids, as their teacher stared at his face. She was eerie and truly beginning to scare both young men when finally she turned and marched back to the middle of the room.

"I thought I told you both I have no time for petty arguments." came in a soft tone from over her shoulder. "You can both leave now. I will answer your questions another time" She said, back to them still.

Needless to say both teens needed no encouragement to flee the room. Neither smiled as they went their separate ways to their own parts of the castle. One above, one below...and hopefully they could meet in the middle. They both knew that things needed to change, that they needed to change, if either of them were going to hope for change in their world.

As the door closed behind them Elexa Massuomi sighed heavily and opened her still not quite normal looking eyes to stare at the design her magic had left on the ground under her. She wondered whether she would be able to do what had been asked of her.

... ... ... ... ... ...

**A/N**:

**Reviews are helpful to know whether the story is liked or not. Please, don't be afraid to tell me good or bad. Read on, if you're intrested..or just bored! I don't mind!**


	4. Options And Musings

So...Life is crazy.

Anyhow, I have no Beta so I'm sorry for the typos and such, i'll try harder to re read and edit better from now on. The chapters are still coming out short but bear with me and eventually they will get longer. Fornor just think..short chapters mean you'll never lose your place!

LOVE ALL REVIEWS POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE.

Please, if you have anything to suggest about where you'd like the story to go or things you'd like to see or not see then leave a suggestion. All I ask is that everyone be polite please. If you hate the story, by all means say so, just don't be ugly about it.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

_Previously:_

_This year was starting off ominous for Harry and it didn't bode well for him, he felt as though something was about to happen that would turn his world upside down and if he'd learned anything in the past few years in the magical world...it was that his instincts rarely led him astray._

_..._

_Draco Malfoy leaned casually against the professor's desk, grey eyes locked with his, equally shocked. Harry clutched his Defense books fall to his chest as he stared between the two figures in the room in disbelief._

_There was no self important smirk or haughty expression on Draco Malfoy's face as he stared back at Harry. He looked disheveled, hair astray, clothes rumpled and face drawn taught with worry or stress. Malfoy broke his gaze from Harry and looked to their professor, slipping away from the desk. Harry could feel the confusion welling up inside him mixing with anger, though he didn't know why. He had been unusually easily to anger for the past few months and now was no exception._

_..._

_Neither Harry nor Draco smiled as they went their separate ways to their own parts of the castle. One above, one below...and hopefully they could meet in the middle. They both knew that things needed to change, that they needed to change, if either of them were going to hope for so much needed change in their world._

_..._

_Scanning the room with a deep breath and striding to them she crossed her arms began to pace, Their new defense teacher's eyes filled with despair before drifting closed as she remembered things long forgotten._

_"Things are not always as they seem, consider this an unofficial lesson in life and reality. Many things from the history of the wizarding world are a mystery to all those in it, they are not written in any textbook and they are not meant to be remembered, that is how these things go sometimes." She drew in a deep breath and opened her eyes, arms still crossed over her breast she turned to face away from their gazes. Her voice was loud and steady as she launched into her story._

_"The history of Hogwarts as you know it is not the full story._

_..._

_"I thought I told you both I have no time for petty arguments." came in a soft tone from over her shoulder. "You can both leave now. I will answer your questions another time" She said, back to them still._

_Needless to say both teens needed no encouragement to fell the room. As the door closed behind them Elexa Massuomi sighed heavily and opened her still not quite normal looking eyes to stare at the design her magic had left on the ground under her. She wondered whether she would be able to do what had been asked of her._

... ... . . .. . .. . . . . ... .. ... . . ... . ... ... .. .

Harry was still trying to absorb what he saw in the room of requirement as he made his way to the other end of the hall and the south staircase that would take him to Gryffindor Tower. He could not quite decide how he felt about the new information he had been given. He still didn't know whether to believe it or not and nothing but questions were flicking through his mind. With a small sigh he stopped trying to think and focused on the pounding in his skull, willing it to lessen so that he could begin to process his thoughts and feelings into coherent questions since apparently there was to be a drawn out conversation about it tomorrow. When tomorrow exactly, he didn't know, what with classes and all. Maybe she would hold them back after her class?

Draco stared at the back of Harry's head as he walked, his own headache mostly dissipated already. He wondered how the other boy felt about what they saw. Draco was eager for an alternative to the life his family had chosen for him, though he was hesitant to trust or believe professor Massuomi. He had spent years accepting blindly everything his father had told him without question but over the summer he had seen things that made him question that way of life. He shook his head and shut his eyes trying to shake off the memories of the horrible things he had seen. A life of servitude under Voldemort was not something to be proud of.

Forming his own opinions had been confusing for him and he was still trying to sort himself out, He felt trapped...he'd decided that he wanted to live his own life and make his own decisions for himself but doing that came with a mountain of political repercussions he wasn't sure he knew how to take care of, let alone live through, knowing what his father's reaction to his new found independence could bring upon him. He knew he needed to set aside the often dangerous rivalry he and Harry had developed but when something became habit the way his actions toward the other boy had...even when the seed of hate was planted in him by his own father... starting over and getting rid of that habit is still difficult to do.

Draco wasn't even sure if Harry would give him the chance to start over after all the horrible things he had done over the last few years. Even if the other boy decided to ignore his pompous proclamations of his own pureblood superiority, Draco still couldn't see a time where he could forgive himself for it. He had been gullible and let his own family brainwash him. Seeing the final end to the tornado of questions and repercussions of his recent choices, the emotions and new opinions that crowded in his mind now were almost impossible to accept. And I still have no idea if Mother is even alive. I need this woman's help. The things she told me...if she can do what she says then there might be a chance...

The teens parted ways at the south stair with no mind for one another. Draco headed downward and Harry up. Both reached their empty common rooms and both sat in the dark in front of their fireplaces. Harry cuddled into the depths of a plush red couch and Draco perched on the edge of a black leather wing backed chair. Both young men sighed at the same time and both thought the same thing at that moment. Why does everyone always tell me I have a choice when they know good and well that I don't?

Harry fell into another restless slumber wrapped in the plush and warmth of the Gryffindor furniture soon after, and hours later Draco made his way to his room as the first rays of light touched the castle walls, not that Draco would know that being ensconced in the dungeons.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

_Harry ran his fingers across the white silk before him...no, not silk, alabaster skin. He slid his palm over delicate cheekbones and threaded through white blonde hair, bringing the ends of the strands to his face for inspection. He let them slide through his fingers only to retract his arm and deliver a resounding blow to Narcissa Malfoy's ashen face._

_"Where is your Husband, Narcissa? Has Lucius betrayed me as well? You dare defy me!? You dare keep secrets from Lord Voldemort?! You will suffer for this insolence!"_

_Though the smile that graced Narcissa's lips was small and thoroughly paned, it only angered Harry further. With a throaty growl he turned and stalked from the room_

... ... ... ... .. .. ... ... ... .. ... ..

Torn from yet another disturbing dream, Harry sat up and massaged his sore neck. Glancing out the windows and seeing the soft light filtering through them he heaved a great sigh and plopped backward onto the couch. He lay there musing over this latest bit of weird in his dreams as he waited for the slow trickle of students to filter down the stairs. This whole deal where I'm embodying evil creatures in my sleep has got to stop, pretty soon i'm going to be hissing at people when i'm awake. Oh. Right. Been there, done that.

With a groan Harry doggedly climbed the stairs to get ready for the day, not knowing whether to be excited about seeing what the new Defense teacher had to say to himself and Malfoy or to alternatively dread the upcoming conversation.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Professor Filius Flitwick's Charms class was Harry's favorite subject at Hogwarts. No one was actually aware of this, because everyone assumed for some reason that Defense Against The Dark Arts just HAD to be his favorite. No. Harry loved charms class. It challenged him and that made him want to learn even more. The class had become something of an escape for Harry, he enjoyed the fun little assignments the professor set for them in his lessons and was able to brush aside all of the worries and dark thoughts, all of the stress that came with being himself while he was in the class.

Professor Flitwick shot Harry a smile and chuckle as the flowers he was suppoed to be making dance ran away from him and tumbled off the end of the bench in the front row that He, Hermione, Ron, Dean and Padma shared today.

Far from discouraged, Harry gathered the struggling tulips in his arms and brought them to his place to attempt it once again. He canceled the botched charm with a quick Finite and set the once more boring tulips in front of himself. Concentrating and drawing a deep breath he ran the tip of his wand up and down along the green length of the flower's stem and called out Saltare Ineo with an abrupt upward jerk of his wand and watched as the tulpis began a slow waltz with eachother. Harry smiled and leaned back in his chair to watch his waltzing boquet, giving a couple classmates pointers when asked.

By the end of class only three other students had gotten the charm, and one of them (three guesses who) had managed to somehow not only make them dance, but change color randomly as well, which delighted the diminutive Professor to no end.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

"Have you been reading ahead in classes, Harry?" Hermione asked tentitively as they packed their bags at the end of class.

"No, Hermione. I've told you before that I don't have access to my school things during the summer."

"Oh. Well, I'll see you and Ron at lunch then, Harry."

"Uh-huh...wait, what?"

"Oh. It seems we don't have many classes together this year, I guess we all just chose different subjects this time." With that Hermione turned and made her way in the opposite direction that Harry needed to go for his next class.

As Harry made his way to Advanced Divination, he thought about what Hermione had mentioned. He hadn't thought about the possiility that he and his friennds would not share all their classes the way they always did before. I guess that it happens that way when we're not allowed to communicate with one another at all. Harry glanced down at his schedule again and quirked the corner of his mouth into a half smile. I guess they finally made Trelawney come down out of that god awful tower room of hers. About time for it, even people that actually like her class hated that room. When Harry pushed open the heavy wooden door though, he was surprised to see not Professor Trelawney at the teacher's desk, but yet another face he didn't know.

"Good morning everybody. I understand you may have been expecting that Advanced Divination would be held with your prior instructor, however, I am not filling in and I have in fact taught advanced divinations for over a decade here at Hogwarts. As you have all seemed to come through Professor Trelawney's more...eccentric..way of teaching, I have short quiz here for each of you." Groans of displeasure met his announcement. A test on the first class of the year?

"Okay, okay. Calm down. It's only a placement exam to let me know where your class is at in terms of apability in this subject. your prior professor tends to produce inconsistent results in what her students come to me knowing." Responses this time were more amused than they were upset. Everybody knew exactly what their Professor was hinting about and the curt politeness that he used only served to further the snickers that filled the room.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

The rest of the day's classes went by rather unexceptionaly, and Harry found himself confused by Malfoy's behavoir toward him. The other boy shared nearly all of Harrys elective classes and he seemed to be ignoring Harry for some reason. Gone even were his usual sneers to entertain his housemates in Slytherin. The pale boy seemed to be completely dismissing what had happened in the Room of Requirement. In fact, by the end of the day Harry noticed that Malfoy seemd to be on the outs with most of the other snakes for some reason or the other. Unless nessacary they all seemed to avoid him, some going as far as to team up with a Ravenclaws in Hagrid's Advanced Creatures class that afternoon. Being that most sixth year classes were advanced ones, they were smaller and some even combined students from all four houses to fill the seats. It made for a less hostile learning enironment, sure, but Harry still wondered why the Slytherin Prince had become cast out from his throne over the others.

Professor Massuomi barely acknowledged either of them in Defense class that evening, and did not, in fact, hold them after to talk. It would be closer to a month later that either of them would speak alone to their teacher about what had occured.

.. ... ... ... .. .. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Well, let me know what you all think. is the story going in a direction you like or is it just boring you out of your minds?

-Elebell


	5. An Unexpected Encounter

**I Had hoped to have this chapter out the same day as chapter four, but it was not to be, it seems. As always, reviews are welcomed and well loved. Hope you all enjoy the story.**

**Just a note, for the purposes of my story this world is only cannon from James and Lily's time at Hogwarts to Sirius falling through the veil at the ministry(with a little added supposition of course), all events thereafter you may consider...flexible...**

**-Elebell**

**... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

_Previously :_

_Harry was still trying to absorb what he saw in the room of requirement. He could not quite decide how he felt about the new information he had been given. He still didn't know whether to believe it or not and nothing but questions were flicking through his mind._

_Harry lay there on the plush couch in Gryffindor Tower musing over this latest bit of weird in his dreams. 'This whole deal where I'm embodying evil creatures in my sleep has got to stop, pretty soon I'm going to be hissing at people when I'm awake. Oh. Right. Been there, done that.'_

_ Draco still couldn't see a time where he could forgive himself for his past actions, and still he wants to change 'I still have no idea if Mother is even alive. I need this woman's help. The things she told me...if she can do what she says then there might be a chance...' _

_ Harry found himself confused by Malfoy's behavoir toward him. The other boy shared nearly all of Harry's elective classes and he seemed to be ignoring Harry for some reason. Gone even were his usual sneers to entertain his housemates in Slytherin. The pale boy seemed to be completely dismissing what had happened in the Room of Requirement._

_Professor Massuomi barely acknowledged either of them in Defense class and it would be close to a month later before either of them would speak alone to their teacher about what had occurred._

_... ... ... ... ... ... ..._

The days passed in rather a blur for both teens as the events on the seventh floor were pushed to the back burner in light of classes and just being back at Hogwarts. It was near three weeks later when Harry happened to catch sight of a very distinguished looking spotted owl landed on Draco Malfoy's shoulder at breakfast. He watched Malfoy stand and make his way from the Hall after accepting the letter from the owl, the letter which if Harry wasn't seeing things was now crushed into oblivion in Malfoy's left fist.

Pondering what he believed he had seen Harry wondered what had the other teen so upset, the odd indifference Malfoy had shown him at the beginning of the year had continued and Harry had honestly let him slip from his own mind in turn.

... ... ... ... ... ...

Nightfall found Harry slinking through the castle, invisibility cloak over himself and Marauder's Map in hand. He was making his way to the Room of Requirement as he had a dozen or so times since school began. Turning the last corner he smiled and paced the needed thrice before the wall and waited for appearance of the quirky glass door he had become accustomed to, fingers on the slender handle he stopped short as he looked up through the door. There on the other side, slumped in a heap in the middle of the room was Draco Malfoy. His face was buried in his forearms, but the very obvious shaking of his shoulders and tousled hair leant credence to what the young man must be feeling. Harry hesitated. He didn't know how long he stood at the door watching the pale teen but by the time he made up his mind to check on him, his hand was stiff and sore from how tightly he had apparently been clutching the handle of the door.

Ever so slowly, so as not to startle Malfoy, Harry eased the glass door open inward and stepped inside the room, cloak in arm and map cleared. Back to the other, Harry drew a deep breath, very aware of the total silence inside the room and waiting for Malfoy to curse him for disturbing him. Harry waited for a raised voice or angry footsteps, the sound of the so obvious crying he had been witness to...but none of those things came and he slowly pried his eyes open and moved his leaden feet around to where Malfoy sat.

Nothing. There was no Malfoy in the room, no one at all in fact. The room was even different from the one he had seen through the glass door from the hall. Harry stood in confused, shocked and bewildered silence. Mouth agape he threw the door back open and marched into the hall once more. Once the glass door had closed the image returned. A different room. A pained boy..and all thought left Harry. He tossed his belongings across the hallway from the door and ran to the end of the hall and back, resetting the room's parameters. He paced three times _I need the room Malfoy's in..I need to find where Malfoy is..I need to see if Malfoy is alright _and Harry's own glass door appeared for him again and again and again, showing the selfsame image to Harry. No matter how many times he reset the room, or how many different ways he requested to get to Malfoy, it simply seemed that the boy was not somewhere he could get to from the room itself.

Finally Harry leaned against the wall opposite the glass and just watched the other teen. Nothing had changed in the time Harry had spent looking for a way to get to him except that Malfoy had fallen asleep on the floor against the back of the velvety looking green couch in the room. Harry simply sat there and stared at the door for so long he lost track of time watching Malfoy sleep. Eventually the other teen moved in his sleep and Harry watched a small piece of parchment flutter from his knees to the floor, a very tattered parchment that looked as though it had bee crumpled and smoothed back out more than once. It was even singed along the bottom, a corner and one side.

... ... ... ... ... ... .. ...

With a jerk and a start Harry's eyes opened. He had fallen asleep watching Malfoy and the only thing greeting his sight was an unremarkable stone wall. Harry groaned as he stood_. Stone floors and drafty corridor are no place for sleeping_ He thought as he opened his map and headed back to his dorm for a shower and the start of the day.

Under the scalding spray of the showers Harry's mind still did not leave Malfoy's shaking form from last night. Harry had done his fair share of crying in his lifetime...but what he saw in that room that he couldn't access was something Harry didn't recognize in his own bouts of depression. Even from afar, Harry could see a touch of something else in the other teen...and he felt an unexplained urge to help Malfoy. No one should have to cry alone like that. Harry would know, he had done enough hiding himself...and even though what he saw didn't seem to be something he had experienced himself, he did know how it felt to have to hide away from everyone to let it out. Everyone should have someone to go to, but it seemed that surrounded by hundreds of peers, Malfoy somehow had no one. Those thoughts stirred something in Harry that made him want to reach out to the other teen in a way that he couldn't be bothered to name. He would much rather find out **how ** to help Malfoy than figure out **why** he wanted to.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Draco stared at his reflection in the mirror of his bathroom and sighed. He waved his wand over himself and the puffy eyes and dark circles dissipated with little effort. He didn't bother to style his white blonde hair or spell the lint and wrinkles from his clothing before he left for breakfast. As he closed the door behind him, he was silently thankful he had found a way to procure his own rooms. Slytherin had simply become too dangerous for him after rumor had gotten out that his mother was being held for betraying the dark lord and that he was of a like mind to her.

Draco's father had been sending him post every couple of days, warning him or threatening him or likewise forcing the dark lord's propaganda upon him since the beginning of school. He was finding it more and more difficult to cling to the idea that he could et away from his father's and the dark lord's influence before he was sucked into a servitude he desperately wanted to avoid being part of.

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

**I hope you all like it, and I hope you can expect a new chapter tomorrow as well. I apologize for all the typos, I try my best but I have no beta, so if you're reading this before it's totally finished then expect a few repeated words or missing punctuation.**

**-Elebell**


	6. Restless

A/N

IMPORTANT:

As of 1/22/2015 there is an alternate version of this story going up on my account titled 'Revelations V2' in which the Harry/Draco pairing is completely platonic for those readers who find the pairing off putting.

To this effect there will be a note going up at both the beginning and the end of Chapter 6

-Elebelle

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Previously:

Nightfall found Harry slinking through the castle, invisibility cloak over himself and Marauder's Map in hand. He was making his way to the Room of Requirement as he had a dozen or so times since school began. Turning the last corner he smiled and paced the needed thrice before the wall and waited for appearance of the quirky glass door he had become accustomed to, fingers on the slender handle he stopped short as he looked up through the door. There on the other side, slumped in a heap in the middle of the room was Draco Malfoy. His face was buried in his forearms, but the very obvious shaking of his shoulders and tousled hair leant credence to what the young man must be feeling. Harry hesitated. He didn't know how long he stood at the door watching the pale teen but by the time he made up his mind to check on him, his hand was stiff and sore from how tightly he had apparently been clutching the handle of the door.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. .. ... .. ...

Draco sat with his head bent over the latest bit of post from his father, fingers fisted into his hair and teeth clenched. These letters were alluding to something that his father was not saying outright and he couldn't seem to figure it out. It seemed that his father's so called subtely was lost on him most of the time these days. Whatever he was trying to tell him, Draco wished his father would just stop playing his ridiculous games and just come right out and say it. The worst part? Draco knew that the bloody owl that delivered the letters was not his family's owl and the stupid bird never waited for a reply. The one sidedness of the whole situation was beginning to grate on his nerves and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it aside from trapping the ruddy animal.

With a growl he swiped his arms across the desk before him, tossing all the contents to the ground in a heap of parchment, ink and ruined schoolwork. He strode to the bookcase by his bed Draco crouched and began rifiling through the tomes Father gave me a codex a long time ago and I remember him saying something about it being able to teach me what he couldn't. I figured the areshole was just being a prat at the time, but on the slim chance that he was trying to save his own neck, I wouldn't put it past him to...ah-ha! From the middle shelf Draco pulled a slim tome with red leather binding down and brushed his fingers over the words he had never given a second glace embosssed on the front cover 'Bad Faith' Really, Father? Could you get any more self involved? Draco snorted as he lay the book delicately upon the wooden surface of his now empty desk. It looks so insignificant. For once in my life I hope that you were being yourself, Father.

As Draco pulled his chair out from the desk to sit and begin his inspection of the ironic little tome he caught movement in the window above his desk, reaching for the latch to open the glass and let in what he assumed was an owl, he peered through the darkness outside and halted his movements when he couldn't see any sign of whatever had caught his eye.

Eyebrows drawn and with a small shake of his head, Draco sat and resumed his persual of the book. He ran his fingers over the red binding reverently, here lay the book that might be able to tell him whatever it was that his father was trying to get at in his letters.

Finally, he pulled back the front cover...or tried to, at least. Hastily he picked up the book with two hands. Why wont the bloody thing open? I should have known...Father is worse than Dumbledore when it comes to riddles. Nothing can ever be simple, can it? No "use the book, Draco "or " This is what I mean, Draco" no simple way of doing anything.

Red leather still clutched between his fingers, Draco leaned his head back on the line of wooden chair at his neck and heaved another sigh, the frustration of the past weeks showing clearly on his face. When he opened unfocused eyes and stared ahead of him, the sight in his window that stared back at him made him leap from his seat, knocking it on its side as he went. He spun around to look in his bathroom and there in his mirror, reflected in his window was the face of Harry Potter. Staring at him and seeming to lean against his bathroom mirror from the inside somehow. He was frozen in place. What was he supposed to do? What could he do? In a split second decision he chucked the book in his left hand at the mirror, but before it hit its mark Potter had snatched a bag from the floor at his feet and beat a hasty retreat from his bathroom. Through his mirror Draco caught barely a glimpse of a hallyway of some kind, but he didn't recognise it, or more accurately he recognized it very, very well. Any hallway in the castle could be mistaken fairly well for any other as it was.

He walked into the bathroom and ran long, slender fingers over his own face on the cool surface of the mirror and bent to retrieve his book from the tile. Sodding Potter! Why can't he be bloody well normal? Draco had no idea how or why Harry had gotten inside his mirror but he felt a burning inside himself that he hadnt felt in weeks. Anger. Not the maddening twisting and churning of frustration but the hot, deep burn of anger. Anger at Potter for invading his room and his much fought for privacy. Damn him. I don't give a rats arse if he WAS two dimensional, he can bloody well take his flat self and stalk someone else's mirror.

Going over ways he would murder Potter in his mind, Draco changed into his silk pajamas and climbed in bed, having made sure that the bathroom and it's mirror with it's spies in it were locked behind a closed door for the night.

He dreamed of green eyes in the dark and white books dipped in blood that night, and in the morning he spelled a towel stuck to his mirrror while he showered.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. .. . .

Harry shot through the portrait hole and into Gryffindor Tower as fast as his feet could carry him. Face ashen and eyes wide, he threw himself up the stairs to his dorm and dropped, panting, sweaty and full of adreniline onto his bed.

Bloody hell. he saw me. What now? I should have just left well enough alone and not bothered with it. I was supposed to be trying to prepare myself to face voldemort in the first place, not staring at Draco sodding Malfoy's back for hours every night.

After the first time he saw the other young man reflected in the door, Harry had found himself drawn back there time and time again. Sometimes he was greated by tears, sometimes he was greated by the back of Malfoy's head as he did his homework and other times he was greeted by nothing but an odd whiteness, but as he remembered the sight of the broken form that greeted him that first night, Harry knew he could never have left well enough alone. He pretended that the reason or reasons why he was so consumed and entranced didn't matter... and therefore he chose not to wonder why he felt and acted the way he did right at that moment.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. ... ...

In classes the following day, Harry could feel Malfoy's eyes on him and he squirmed at the sensation.

Draco watched Potter the whole day and he could feel the anger still burning inside his chest.

It was a dance. Harry avoided and Draco pursued. They were cat and mouse, predator and prey and it heighted the senses of them both. They each wound tighter and tighter the whole day, brimming with anticipation. There were fleeting meetings of eyes from across the room and they both gradually forgot or ignored everything else around them as focus narrowed to only one another.

Harry completed all of his classwork, but could not tell you a thing he was doing from one minute to the next.

Draco began to spark at the fingertips with miniscule flares of uncontrolled magic.

... ... ... ... ... ... .. .. ... .. .. . .. .. ..

In History of Magic, Draco watched as Harry was fetched by a prefect and he slipped out of class behind them. No one noticed, and if they did, no one cared as he slipped out of the classroom to find a way to confront Potter.

Draco followed a ways behind, unnoticed still, and observed Potter as he was hauled upward by a moving circular stairwell and the prefect disappeared, rounding a far corner, destination unimportant to the blonde.

He leaned against the wall against the gargoyle where Potter had disappeared. Hopefully he would come back out the same way he went in. He waited, not thinking, just feeling the anger inside him and clutching ontothe burn of it within himself.

Not too long passed until the muffled sound of grinding stone pushed Draco from the wall and he felt the heat inside himself externlize, his palms and the bridge of his nose began to perspire. His whole body tensed and he waited to strike.

When Potter exited from behind the gargoyle he had no time to react as his collar was grasped roughly and he was turned in a wide half moon and shoved roughly against a wall as Draco pivoted on the spot. A dull ache spread through his shoulder blades, but he ignored it in favor of a look into his assailiant's face.

His vision went white for a moment in panic and he couldn't speak. couldn't think..barely breathed. So he waited.

Draco's face was inched from Harry's own. Lips pulled back in a silent snarl as he looked into the vivid green eyes before him and demanded answers.

"Why were you in my sodding mirror, Potter? Staring at me like that?"

The edge of danger to the blonde's voice threw Harry off any balance he had left at that point. He didn't know what to say. Couldn't talk. He inhaled sharply and held his breath.

Draco shook him, pulling him forward and pushing him back against the wall minutely.

"Well!?" The pale features were tined with high color and the silver eyes sparked with intense emotion.

Harry didn't know how it happened. Didn't think it, didn't will himself to say it, he was helpless as the words slipped past his unwilling lips in a soft, quiet breath.

"Who did you lose?"

Two pairs of eyes widened and locked. Pale fingers knotted in fabric loosened. Draco stared down at the brunette in shock, taking a few stumbling steps backwards and letting Harry's robes fall from his fingers. Then he darted. They once again parted ways. One up, the other down.

... ... ... ... .. . .. ... ... ... . ... .. ... .. .. .

Safely ensconced in Gryffindor tower once more, Harry heaved himself, still slightly panting, off his bed, walkinginto the bathroom attatched to the dorm. It was rarely used, as most most of his dorm mates preferred the large many-stalled communal showers upstairs for the Gryffindor boys, seeing as this one had a problem with hot water. He shut the door softly behind him and hand still loosely gripping the handle he slumped against the wood and sighed.

Head hanging, he inspected his shoes with no attention to the task, he didn't know what had made him ask that other than that it had felt like the right thing to say. All at once he had been reminded of how devastated he had been over Sirius and it had seemed the right question to ask.

... ... .. .. . ... . .. . .. . .. . .. .. . ... .. . . ... . . .. .

A/N:

IMPORTANT:

As of 1/22/2015 there is an alternate version of this story going up on my account titled 'Revelations V2' in which the Harry/Draco pairing is completely platonic for those readers who find the pairing off putting.

To this effect there will be a note going up at both the beginning and the end of Chapter 6

-Elebelle


	7. Confusion

A\N

I know there was a long wait for this chapter, but I didn't have access to a computer at the time, so here it is now!

Enjoy! let me know if you like it and if i should continue the story.

... ... ... ... ... .. . . . .. . .. .. . . . .. .. .

_Previously:_

_Red leather still clutched between his fingers, Draco leaned his head back on the line of wooden chair at his neck and heaved another sigh, the frustration of the past weeks showing clearly on his face. When he opened unfocused eyes and stared ahead of him, the sight in his window that stared back at him made him leap from his seat, knocking it on its side as he went. He spun around to look in his bathroom and there in his mirror, reflected in his window was the face of Harry Potter. Staring at him and seeming to lean against his bathroom mirror from the inside somehow. He was frozen in place. What was he supposed to do? What could he do? In a split second decision he chucked the book in his left hand at the mirror, but before it hit its mark Potter had snatched a bag from the floor at his feet and beat a hasty retreat from his bathroom. Through his mirror Draco caught barely a glimpse of a hallyway of some kind, but he didn't recognise it, or more accurately he recognized it very, very well. Any hallway in the castle could be mistaken fairly well for any other as it was._

_..._

_Draco's face was inched from Harry's own. Lips pulled back in a silent snarl as he looked into the vivid green eyes before him. He lost his own thoughts for a moment, but soon regained them and demanded answers._

_"Why were you in my sodding mirror, Potter? Staring at me like that?"_

_The edge of danger to the blonde's voice threw Harry off any balance he had left at that point. He didn't know what to say. Couldn't talk. He inhaled sharply and held his breath._

_Draco shook him, pulling him forward and pushing him back against the wall minutely._

_"Well!?" The pale features were tined with high color and the silver eyes sparked with intense emotion._

_Harry didn't know how it happened. Didn't think it, didn't will himself to say it, he was helpless as the words slipped past his unwilling lips in a soft, quiet breath._

... . ... ... .. . .. ... .. . ... .. .. . .. .. .. .. . .. .

"Who did you lose?"

The question echoed through Draco's mind as he fled the hallway. Rounding another corner nearly halfway to the Slytherin commons he slowed, stopped, and stood, back against a wall and caught his breath. His mind raced but went in no particular direction. He couldn't even form a thought and there was only confusion and wave after wave of emotion washing over him...drowning him..how did Harry Potter know?

He was so dazed that it took everything he had to concentrate long enough to even comprehend where in the castle he had fled to and pushing off the stone, Draco calmly walked the remaining distance to the Slytherin Common Room, too late remembering that he no longer slept there.

He ran chillled fingertips over his eyes and sighed, turning and walking back the way he had come for a while before coming to the stretch of wall that hid his own rooms. He tapped the sequence of stones that would grant him access and entered, the sound of the stone closing behind him grating his nerves and sending a prickle of annoyance up his spine. He crossed to his desk, casting his outer robes on the floor carelessly in a random direction and he sat in the wooden chair with a heavy sigh, left leg propped on the seat ith him and chin resting atop the knee. Cool grey eyes stared at nothing.

Draco had never been unable to understand his own reactions before, and as his head spun from the involuntary shock coursing through him, he sat and came down from the virtual high that the fear of discovery had given him, mind blissfully and painfully blank for endless, short minutes until he could regain his usual level of rigid self-control.

Standing abruptly, He began to pace the small space his private rooms provided him and he twisted his fingers into his hair in frustration and his breath came in shallow gasps.

With his jaw clenched and his chest tight, Draco fell backwards onto his soft bed and curled into himself.

_Prat was probably just trying to startle me into letting him run off. Most likely he's just been spying on me. Keeping track of the Death Eater. He's bloody well obsessed._

Having successfully dismissed anything that might have or might not have happened between Harry and himself, Draco drifted into a restless sleep to match his restless evening.

.. ... .. . .. . . .. ... .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . .

Strands of long silvery purple hair whipped around the edges of a dark hooded cloak as Elexa ran through the Forbidden Forest. The tree branches snagged her sleeves and the hem of her cloak, but she didn't slow. Her hood was pushed down by a strong gust of wind and her features were plainly visible, alight with mirth and excitement. She glanced behind her, catching sight of half a dozen other, very similarly, dark-clad figures steady in chase. A tinkling laugh escaped her and she picked up speed, leaving her pursuers behind long enough for her to skitter behind a very large oak tree.

She waited for them to pass her and reached out, snagging the last man with one arm and covering his mouth with the other. She turned and pressed the man against the tree, whispering something to him softly before letting him go after the others. A sardonic smile crossed her features as she watched him go before starting back toward Hogwarts grounds. She vaguely wondered, as she sauntered toward the castle, if she would meet any exciting beings in the forbidden forest tonight.

... . ... ... .. ... ... .. . .. . . .. ... .. .. . ... . .. ..

_A hush fell over the crowd of darkly shroud figures as Harry entered, all attention focused completely on him. He slithered over to a raised platform and perched himself on the edge of an ornate chair overlooking all of his followers. A sense of satisfaction came over him as he saw how his numbers were growing and he lounged against the high back of his perch._

_"How went last night's raid?" He addressed to the room at large, watching as one of the many stepped forward and fell to his knees._

_"My lord, all was well and we were proud to be chosen to carry out your noble plans."_

_"How many did we exterminate?"_

_"Eight, my lord. Another three purebloods have requested to join your ranks as well."_

_"Excellent. Bring them tomorrow night."_

_"Yes, lord." With that the man inched his way back into the fold of identical robed figures and Harry once again addressed no one in particular._

_"Are there any more reports of progress?" No one came forward and Harry felt annoyance begin to crawl up his spine as he sat up straight, eyes sweeping his followers._

_"No one has managed to infiltrate the department of magical law enforcement? This is critical!" He stood and stalked angrily to within a foot of his nearest followers, pacing before them. "Bones is learning our methods and we need to get rid of her and have one of our own take her place."_

_Then came a series of randomly chosen Death Eaters being tortured in various ways, the usual monotony of violence and pain that he lived in. Harry paced between the rows of his followers, flicking his wand randomly and unmasking a deatheater with each movement until one would strike his fancy for a quick malicious spell or two. He was growing bored with the same faces every meeting and was looking forward to new followers to humiliate and degrade._

_A bit a silvery hair peeked at him , not quite hidden under a dark hood and his boredom vanished. He roughly yanked the hood backwards, almost ripping it from the attached cloak "Lucius" Hissed out in a soft breath, but it was not the elder Malfoy staring back at him. Sparkling eyes, laced with mischief greeted him, accompanied by a toothy grin from Hogwarts' newest Professor seconds before she turned and fled the room, leaving a stunned audience behind her._

_"After her!" He screamed in a shrill tone at this dumbfounded followers, and as they all left in pursuit he flung himself into a high backed chair on a raised pedestal and seethed, basking in the negativity of it all._

... ... ... .. ... .. ... . ... . .. .. ... ... .. . . . . .

Harry's eyes fluttered open and he bolted from bed, wand in hand, feet bare and hair on end. He raced through the castle to the main entrance and pushed the doors open, skidding to a halt on the cold stone just in time to see Elexa emerge from the tree line of the forbidden forest. He caught his breath as she took her time walking up to the doors and stared in bewilderment as she shot him an amused look and motioned him to follow her back into the castle.

... . .. ... ... .. .. .. ... . .. .. .. .. . ... .. .. ...

A/N:

I Hope the story is living up to everyone's expectations. Again..I would love some feedback on how you all like or dislike anything you're reading so just let me know and if you have any suggestions on where you'd like to see the story go from here then feel free to leave a comment about that as well


	8. Hesitation

**A/N:**

**As always, I hope everyone likes the story so far. Keep reading, the plot will be making itself known soon**

-**Elebelle**

... ... .. .. . .. . ... .. . .. . ... .. .. . .. .. .. .. . .

_Previously:_

_Draco's face was inches from Harry's own. Lips pulled back in a silent snarl as he looked into the vivid green eyes before him. He lost his own thoughts for a moment, but soon regained them and demanded answers._

_"Why were you in my sodding mirror, Potter? Staring at me like that?"_

...

_Voldemort roughly yanked the hood backwards, almost ripping it from the attached cloak "Lucius" Hissed out in a soft breath, but it was not the elder Malfoy staring back at him. Sparkling eyes, laced with mischief greeted him, accompanied by a toothy grin from Hogwarts' newest Professor seconds before she turned and fled the room, leaving a stunned audience behind her._

...

_Elexa waited for the Death Eaters pursuing her to pass and reached out, snagging the last man with one arm and covering his mouth with the other. She turned and pressed the man against the tree, whispering something to him softly before letting him go after the others._

...

_Harry raced through the castle to the main entrance and pushed the doors open, skidding to a halt on the cold stone just in time to see Elexa emerge from the tree line of the forbidden forest. He caught his breath as she took her time walking up to the doors and stared in bewilderment as she shot him an amused look and motioned him to follow her back into the castle._

... ... .. . ... .. ... ... .. ... .. .. ... ... .. .. .. ... ...

1/4/2015

**- Revelations -**

**Chapter Eight**

**Hesitation**

Draco thought he could hate white paint. Really. Not the kind of exasperated pretend hate that people talked about when they were frustrated, but really and truly hate the shade. There was nothing to it and being surrounded by it on a constant basis only served to make his mother's look even worse, a stark contrast against the purples and greens that marred her flesh.

He stood in the doorway to her room at St Mungo's like he had every day since they had found her a week ago. He hadn't gone in, and somehow it seemed like every time he thought he could and he tried to take that first step he just failed, as if he ran into a solid wall that no one else was affected by. He hadn't been to classes since he first came to see her when she was found.

His nails cut into his flesh in clenched fists as he remembered hearing how they had found her, strung up in Knockturn Alley bleeding and unconscious, but maybe the lack of awareness had been a kindness to her at that point. With a sigh he turned away from her battered form and made his way back to the public floo and began the now familiar trek from Hogsmeade to the castle yet again.

... ... .. .. . .. . .. . .. .. . . .. . . .. . ... . . .. . . .. ...

A dark room, a circle of light with a woman clad in black there in the middle, on her knees, head bowed. Sweat and blood dripped from her face and mixed on the floor between her palms, the ends of her silver hair being stained with it. An eerie animalistic grin could be seen, light glinting off the saliva coated whiteness of her sharp teeth. A laugh that shook her shoulders but made no sound. A voice.

"You shouldn't have told him Elexa."

... . .. ... .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. . .. .. . .. . ..

Severus Snape stared at the reflection in the mirror that wasn't him, he gazed into black eyes that he didn't recognize and laughed sardonically at the man that stared back at him from under a dark hood. Books flew from the shelves closest to him, glasses and bottles of aged whiskey shattered in front of the mirror and he clutched at his abdomen in laughter as his rooms kept spontaneously exploding around him.

.. . ... .. ... .. .. .. .. ... .. .. ... . .. .. .. .. . ... .. ... .. ..

In a dimly lit room lined with bookshelves that held more dust and grime than books, Lucius Malfoy sat on the only piece of furniture that looked remotely clean. There were multitudes of boot prints in the layers of dirt on the wooden floor and so many cobwebs covered the ceiling that you couldn't even tell how tall it was.

Two long, pale fingers rested on his left temple and his legs were crossed at the knee as he sat and regarded with apparent boredom the door to the pathetic room he was seated inside.

. . .. . .. .. .. . .. . .. . ... .. . . ... . .. . ... . . .. . . .. . .. .

The first thing Narcissa Malfoy noticed when she woke was that her eyes wouldn't open. The second thing she noticed was that when she tried to lift her left arm to toch said dysfunctional eyes, it too decided that obeying her was not something that should be done today. Then she stopped trying to notice what was happening to and around her and she panicked.

If anyone was good at anything, Narcissa Malfoy was good at panic attacks. She had always been good at hem, what with the family she was born into and raised with, it really was no wonder that she had become so practiced at the not so subtle art of sheer panic. So when the St. Mungo's staff heard the most blood curdling screech from the general area of the east side of the third floor they, nderstandably, reacted quite the way a cat might if you set it in a tub full of water while it slept. That is to say, rather hastily and panicked in their own right.

When Narcissa was finally calmed enough to be told where she was and that she couldn't move or open her eyes because of the stasis spells they had her under, the first thing she did was ask for her son.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Malfoy, Draco left nearly twenty minutes ago." Said a tall male healer with kind eyes. "He's been to see you every day and I'm sure he will be back tommorrow as well. While he's at Hogwarts, though, our staff has no way to reach him personally and there is only one floo avalible at the school and while I assure you that we continue to try getting through, I'm afraid that the Headmaster is a very busy man these days."

"What of my husband, then? Has he not seen fit to visit his wife?" She asked with scorn laced through her tone.

"I'm afraid not ma'am." Was the healer's short reply.

Narcissa gave a half-hearted huff of indignation and turned her face away from all the eyes upon her. She felt undignified, exposed and vunerable in this state..here in this place. Her delicate fingers came to rest on her upper arms as she rubbed at them, trying to warm or maybe comfort herself..though she would never admit it aloud. She tried and failed to gather her thoughts and emotions for long moments, but when she heard a throat clear beside her she simply steeled her eyes and declared herself tired and the staff dismissed haughtily.

Alone once more, her hands clenched her arms tight enough to leave marks, although a bitter smile crossed her lips as she realized that n one would notice over the marks tat were already marring her skin. Her eyes closed and tears leaked from them as she did what all women know how to do but should never need to do. She wept in silence, a pain ripping through her chest for the violations she had seen over the past months. Not a sound escaped her and not a twitch could be seen from her form, the only sign of her miserable greif was the rapidly spreading dampness of her pillow and the sheets under her chest. Tears rolled from clenched eyes and skated along the corse fabric until she felt she had no more tears left in her, and then she cried even harder.

Finally she slept, and some short time later, a petite blonde healer's assistant with striking grey eyes entered her room from the hallway where she had been waiting. Ever so slowly so as not to wake the frail looking woman, she pulled a warm blanket over Narcissa and brushed the pale hair from her face. With a whispered apology of "I'm so sorry your husband couldn't be here, 'Cissa." the assistant left the other woman with hopes of a good rest and better day to follow, and no one currently in that building would ever know she had been there.

... .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. .

**A/N:**

**Well. Questions? Comments? Critques? I welcome any of it.**

**-Elebelle**


	9. Awareness

**A/N:**

_**I want to thank Ebony Scales:**_

**for the review on the original Revelations! It came at exactly the right time. I had gotten to that point that you hate as a writer, where you're doing it just because, and not enjoying yourself anymore. So, Thank you. I have to admit that I was worried about how people would take the interaction between Luna and Snape, but it seemed right to me to include it and it seemed like something that could have been possible between JKR's characters..so, I hope the rest of the story lives up to whatever expectations you have. Keep reading :) at least now I know I have at least one person to write for and it's no fun doing it for yourself. I like to write for other people.**

**... ...**

**As some of you know, This is a re-write of my first failed attempt at posting draft writing and calling it HP fanfiction. The ones who started the original story back when it had it's old title might catch the refrence in this chapter! Let's see who can spot it!**

**Also, if anyone reading Revelations cares to have a look, my story Dance With Me is being revamped/rewritten after nine years (kinda like this one) and I'm thinking of altering the base story for the HP verse. It's just a drabble, but it's one of my favorite bits of descriptive fiction that i've ever written and I think my HP fans might really enjoy it. So if you've ever read/watched -Inuyasha- or if you're just curious, then take a look at the first two chapters and let me know what you think.**

**-Elebelle**

**.. ... . .. .. . . .. . .. . .. . . . . . . .**

_Previously:_

_Draco stood in the doorway to her room at St Mungo's like he had every day since they had found her a week ago. He hadn't gone in, and somehow it seemed like every time he thought he could and he tried to take that first step he just failed, as if he ran into a solid wall that no one else was affected by. He hadn't been to classes since he first came to see her when she was found._

_..._

_The first thing Narcissa Malfoy noticed when she woke was that her eyes wouldn't open. The second thing she noticed was that when she tried to lift her left arm to toch said dysfunctional eyes, it too decided that obeying her was not something that should be done today. Then she stopped trying to notice what was happening to and around her and she panicked._

_..._

_When Narcissa was finally calmed enough to be told where she was and that she couldn't move or open her eyes because of the stasis spells they had her under, the first thing she did was ask for her son._

... . .. ... . .. . .. .. . .. . . . . . .. .

1/7/2015

1/19/2015

1/21/2015

1/22/2015

**-Revelations-**

**Chapter Nine**

**Awareness**

**... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...**

Luna Lovegood was amused. Barefoot and amused, actually. She was sitting outside, on Hogwarts grouns, in a garden that not very many people knew about. In the middle of september, she could sit here and watch the strange plants interact with eachother. When one particularly large flower leaned over and nearly consumed a rather small one trying to sniff it, Luna giggled.

She knew enough not to try to touch or come near any of the plants. That had been made quite clear to her in her first year when she had found this place and then someone had found her in turn. When she heard the tinkling of glass on glass in the distance she stood and made her way around the corner of a hedge that his the garden, hop-skipping the whole way and waited at the edge for the familiar black robed figure to round the corner of greenhouse nine.

... .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .

Severus Snape always half expected the greeting of Luna Lovegood when he came to collect potions supplies, so it was no surprise when the top two crates of empty vials and bottles slid off his four-high stack and began walking next to him.

"Miss Lovegood."

"Professor."

Luna couldn't keep a straight face, let out a giggle and looked up at her potions instructor.

"I would hope that this is just a visit for the sake of curiosity, Miss Lovegood. Judging from your obvious lack of footwear, however, I must assume that it is not so." Professor Snape's eyes slid to glsnce at her own and Luna's smile faltered slightly.

"You would then be correct, Professor Snape." Was her brief reply. She didn't bother with the airy tone she used with most others, Professor Snape could see right through it and she found it nice that someone could.

The two walked the few yards left to the garden in silence and Luna sat on the damp grass, handing this or that empty bottle when asked and sealing the full ones that were traded for them.

Severus Snape had developed a soft spot for Luna over the last six years, she was intelligent, independent and unusual, all things that he found companionable in the girl. If he was honest with himself, he had developed quite the protective streak for the girl as well. He knew the other Ravenclaws tormented the timid girl, but there was not much that could be done for it. Slytherins, it seemed, were the only students capable of such maliciousness in the eyes of most of the other staff, Headmaster Dumbledore included.

"You seem sadly cheerful, Professor." Luna said

"Adressed to any other person, Luna, that statement would garner you some odd looks. However, you know very well what you see. I am." Was the reply she recieved and it made her smile.

"May I ask why?"

"Other people tend to prove themselves incompetent in many instances, of course."

An exasperated sigh from the blonde and she rephrased the question.

"May I ask you why you're feeling sad and cheerful at the same time?"

"Because someone I haven't seen in a very long time has come back into my life. This person is very precious to me and as I recently found out, has been keeping important secrets from me for a very long time."

"Well that would make me sad and happy too."

"Quite."

There was a comfortable pause in their conversation as Professor Snape continued filling glass containers with all sorts of plant parts and excretions from the garden. Luna continued handing him empty bottles and sealing full ones as he worked.

"Who has your shoes, Luna?" He asked with a defeated sigh, hands full of Argentum Lingua limp on the dewy grass before him. The constant bullying that the girl went through put him on edge. it only reminded him of what he had endured in his own days as a student here, and he was frustrated that though he could deter the other students enough to keep them from being sadistic to Luna, he couldn't seem to get them to leave her alone entirely.

Luna, he knew, handled the bullies far better than he had, and if affected her far less than he had let it affect himself. Still, that was not consolation to him whenever times like these arose.

"I don't know." She said with exasperation.

"How, pray tell, do you not know who stole your shoes?"

"They took all of my shoes from my dorm while I was asleep last night."

"Luna."

"Don't worry. Whoever took them will evantually get bored and the shoes will turn up again."

"Is this going to be before or after you catch yourself a sickness from wandering about with no shoes on?"

"Oh, I have that cvered as well. I'm very good at casting semi-permanent warming charms now."

"Warming Charms?"

"Mmm-hhmm"

"Luna.."

"None of the other professors care if I don't wear shoes."

"Luna! You know very well that I'm not the other professors. Shrink your trunk and bring it to my office tonight as soon as you come inside from the gardens and I will ward it for you. You're to keep your shoes inside it from now on." With that abrupt non-requst Professor Snape rose and lifted his crates of potions supplies, heading back to his office to put everything away.

... .. . . . .. .. ... . .. .. . . .. . . .

Elexa sat on the edge of the bed in her quarters, cursing under her breath in her native language as she pulled on a pair of tight fitting black pants .

_I'm supposed to be helping my boys, not going off on spy missions like this. What do they think this is all about, sending me off randomly like this, without even time to change my plans? _She thought, gnashing her teeth together and standing up to toss a shirt onand tuck it into the tight pants.

_At least I haven't actually set up a schedule yet. So they won't be mindlessly waitig for me for hours._

A pair of black hiking boots and a basic witch's robe with a deeper than average hood completed the ensamble and with a glance at the mirror hanging from the back of her closed bathroom door, Elexa seemes to vaporize into thin air, no one in Hogwarts any the wiser to her strange departure.

... . ... ... .. . .. .. ... ... . ... . . .. .

When Severus Snape reached his office, the last person he expected to find waiting for him outside the door was Harry Potter. With a sneer he opened the office and left the door open behind himself for the boy.

Minutes passed in silence as he rotated his stock of supplies and renewed his preservation charms over the whole of the the shelves he kept behind his desk. He finally spared a glance at the door, thinking that maybe Potter had left his presence after all, and instead saw the brunette standing in the doorway rather nervously, which was unusual given their history in and of itself.

"Don't linger in the doorway like an imbecile, Potter. I don't particularly care if you leave or come in but shut the door in any case."

Harry stepped into the room and shut the door behind him, still not saying anything and took in he office. Last year his occulemency lessons had taken place in the potions classroom so he had never spnt much time in here and when he had the chance he had not been inclined to absorb the office's rather comfortable atmosphere. He was surprised.

Everything from the faded green area rug that covered most of the stone floor to the short plush chairs in front of the professor's desk screamed "Come in and be at ease" to anyone who took two seconds to think about it. Even the aroma of ground herbs and freshly trimmed plant life was pleasent. Harry almost wondered why no one wanted to be here when he looked up and met his professor's eyes for the first time since coming in.

_Oh yeah, that's why everone hates being in here. _Harry thought indignantly.

"To what do I owe the extreme displeasure of your company tonight, Potter?" Snape demanded scathingly with arms crossed over his chest, looking down his nose at Harry from the corner of the room behind his desk when he was shelving jars of intensely colored plant bits and pieces.

"Uh.."

"Articulate as ever, I see." Snape sneered

"I think something's wrong with Malfoy." Harry blurted out, patchy spots of color rising on his face and neck.

Professor Snape was understandably shocked, though he his it well. Harry saw the minute relaxation of the older man's shoulders and the slight slackening of his jaw muscles before he tensed back up and hi sglare intensified.

"What, pray tell, do you mean by that?"

Harry sighed and repeated himself, looking anywhere but at his professor lest he lose his nerve.

"I think something's wrong with Malfoy. Like seriously wrong. I saw him in quite the state the other day and I was worr..Uh.. I thought that i should tell someone who cared about him in case it was something serious. I'll just..go..now.." Harry's eyes were wide and his pulse fast from barely preventing himself from saying that he had been ... that he was currently .. very worried about one Draco Malfoy.

Severus' arms uncrossed and he sat down in the chair behind his desk after Potter sidled out of his office, fingers massaging his temples.

_What the bloody hell was that supposed to be about, Potter?_ He wondered. However much he might dislike the boy, he did care for Draco Malfoy and resolved to check up on him after stocking his supplies, telling himslef that it was because he wanted to and not because Harry Potter had eluded to something being amiss with the blonde.

.. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. ... ... ...

Elexa Shutomi was not amused at the moment, even though if she could stop and think about it she figured that if the circumstances were different then she could be very amused by this situation.

Just as she had departed from Hogwarts, she seemed to materialize from thin air almost as if it had started raining in a one meter square patch of road and the raindrops decided to stick to each other and instead of falling, they decided they would form a person out of nothingness.

She was standing in a deeply hooded black witch's cloak on a perfectly manicured lawn in the middle of a neighborhood that all had identical house faces. Two foot from her, stood a freshly painted white picket fence and the house that she was about to enter was just as much a cliche' as first glance would suggest.

Painted off white with red shutters and a red front door, the house looked like the most normal and unassuming example of conformity in modern times that she could imagine. Considering that the wizarding world tended to dismiss modern ideals, and considering who made up the gathering inside the little house, Elexa did still manage to work up a small chuckle of mirth at it all, even through her frustration she was feeling at the moment.

She stood at the white picket fence's white picket gate and let a droplet of golden fluid from a small vial she produced from her cloak pocket fall on the ground before her, quickly stashing the vial back in her pocket before anyone else could show up and spot her subterfuge.

The air around the house seemed to spark for just a moment and the gate swung open softly of it's own accord, allowing her entry to the premises. She strode quickly across the cut grass to the front door and pushed it open, choking back a scoff and resisting the urge to shake her head in astonishment at the house once more.

Once inside she was met with a veritable wall of black clad shoulders and backs and she rolled her eyes at herself for being short as she shut the front door, now fully inside the House-That-Was-Hypocritical of Voldemort's. A voice could be heard from where she stood, but she couldn't make out what the words spoken were over the mumbling of the crowd so she began making her way through the rest of the cloaked figures to a better vantage point.

Now only a few sparsely populated rows back from the speaker, Elexa watched with a smile as Voldemort went over his most current plans with his followers. She wasn't interested in his plans, however, and if anyone could see her face they would notice her eyes nearly glow as she carried out her orders.

The room lit up for her and she had to stifle a sigh of relief as she felt her barriers fall. The world was so much nicer this way, she thought. Strands of magic and life energy, emotion and memory set the world aglow in her eyes. There were strands, lines, rivers, pulses and all manner of energy in flux around her. She spotted her target nearly at once, and it turned her stomach to look at. There seemed to be cracks throughout the house, in the walls and the floor, even the ceiling, and in the very center of the room they met midair in a black pit. The cracks and the massive pit all were drawing the energies around the house into them, consuming anything that came too near.

Elexa slowly made her way to the void and once she reached a sufficiently large crack in the floor she produced another vial from her pocket. This one was filled with a deep reddish brown sludge and she uncorked it, pouring it onto the floor near the void. When the substance hit the floor though, something strange happened, it was sucked into the void along with the energy that was being consumed and as the last bit was taken into the crack, it seemed to collapse in on itself, taking the rest of the void cracks and even the massive pit in the middle of the room with it.

Elexa smiled, and a strand of her hair slipped free of her hood. She took a deep breath to rebuild the barriers she so hated and when she opened them again, Voldemort was standing before her. He roughly yanked her hood backwards, almost ripping it from the attached cloak

"Lucius" Voldemort seemed to hiss at her in a soft breath.

She gave him an award winning grin, turned no her heel and bolted through the crowd leaving a stunned audience behind her. This time she was thankful for her small stature.

"After her!" Elexa hear as she made it out the front door and kept running. She laughed as she looked back at the mass of bodies in pursuit of her and turned on the spot, apparating into the Forbidden Forest near the Hogwarts boundaries. She wondered if any of them knew how to track apparation and was not disappointed when a dozen figures, give or take a few, popped into existence not far from where she was.

Strands of her long silvery purple hair whipped around the edges of her hood as she ran through the Forbidden Forest. The tree branches snagged her sleeves and the hem of her cloak, but she didn't slow. Her hood was pushed down by a strong gust of wind and her features were plainly visible, alight with mirth and excitement. She glanced behind her, catching sight of only about half of the original group that followed her from the house, in chase. A tinkling laugh escaped her and she picked up speed, leaving her pursuers behind long enough for her to skitter behind a very large oak tree.

She waited for them to pass her and reached out, snagging the last man with one arm and covering his mouth with the other. She turned and pressed the man against the tree, smiling and standing on the balls of her feet to whisper into his ear.

"Remember me, Severus." She said softly and unseen, a wisp of silver magical energy left her lips and entered his right ear.

The long fingers on her upper arms tightened almost painfully as she pulled back and he looked into her eyes, searching her face for something. He didn't say anything, only leaned forward and buried his nose in the crook of her neck, taking a deep breath and inhaling her scent for a split second. He straightened again and slid away from the tree, taking a few halting steps backwards. His eyes lingered on hers for long moments before he turned and tried to close the gap between the other Death Eaters and himself.

A sardonic smile crossed her features as she watched him go before starting back toward Hogwarts grounds. She knew that he would have already begun to remember bits and pieces about their past now that she had come into his world again, but hopefully now that she had lifted the enchantment fully he wouldn't be too upset with her.

Much to her disappointment, the trek back to Hogwarts grounds was uneventful. As she broke the tree line she watched the door to the castle open some two hundred meters in the distance. As she closed the distance she could make out the identity of the figure standing in the frame, wand in hand, pajama clad.

Harry Potter fixed her with a look of bewilderment as she shot him an amused glance and motioned him to follow her back into the castle.

"Mister Potter. Do I want to know why you were waiting for me at the doors of the castle at nine o'clock in the evening, past your curfew? As chivalrous as it was." She said with a laugh, making her way to her quarters, Harry close at her heels.

Harry took in her attire and sighed, walking in step beside her. He looked ahead of them and swallowed before choking out a reply.

"I sort of thought you were a Death Eater." He didn't seem to notice he was being led to the west side of the castle, away from the east stairwell that would take him back to Gryffindor Tower.

His admission drew a smile from his professor and she gave him a sideways look.

"How exactly would you have come to this conclusion, Harry? Let alone know that I was going to be arriving at the castle just at that moment?" She asked.

Harry had the uneasy feeling that she somehow knew exactly why he had been waiting at the castle doors, and was just trying to make him say it. He chose to stay quiet and just follow her.

Elexa made a noncommittal noise and stopped in front of a typical wooden door, if you didn't count it not having a knob as strange. She placed her hand on it and spoke a few words in a language he didn't recognize and a handle popped into being on the right side of the door.

"Well that's a handy spell." Harry said

She peered over her shoulder at him for a moment and walked inside, beckoning him to follow.

"That was just my password, Harry. All of the professors' private quarters work that way."

"Oh."

"Take a seat and I'll get you something to drink. maybe I can put your mid at ease before we get you back to your dorm for the night."

Elexa disappeared through a dimly lit hall to the left of the front doorway and Harry looked around. The room was sparse, for sure. There were not many items of a personal kind in the room, save a few photos that rested on the fireplace mantle on the far wall.

The floors were wooden instead of the usual stone that made up the majority of floors on the castle's main level, and there was a comfortable looking couch and two armchairs positioned around a low table near the fireplace. There was a small bookshelf at one end of the couch where two shelves were packed full of books but other than the small arrangement the room was empty and it made the space seem rather vast for such a small room.

Harry perched himself on the edge of one of the armchairs, only then noticing his wand was still in hand and for a moment he tried to pocket it until he remembered that he was in his night clothes, which inconveniently had no pockets. he stuck the piece of wood under his thigh and clasped his hands together in front of himself, awaiting the return of his professor.

When Elexa came out of the hall bearing a tray laden with two warm glasses of butterbeer Harry was surprised. Not many of the teachers approved of the students having it in the castle. At his look, she only smiled and set the tray on the table in front of him, laying lengthwise on the couch and letting out a heavy sigh.

All at once the situation he found himself in seemed to hit home for Harry and he straightened in his seat. Butterbeer in hand he cast a confused look at the strange woman on the couch only a short distance from him. What he had seen in the room of requirement came flooding through his mind, passed all the other muddled thoughts that he had been dwelling on of late, and he was filled with more questions than he could even begin to voice.

He wanted to know if what she had shown them was true or if it was meant as some sort of riddle for Malfoy and he to solve. He wanted to ask about her behavior directly following all of it and any number of other things. Why was she dressed as a Death Eater? Why was she running from the Death Eaters? Exactly how much did she know about him, anyway?

Elexa cracked open one eye and fixed the violet orb on Harry's distraught face.

"Don't worry so much. Just pick a question and ask." She said, pulling herself to a sitting position and finally giving him her full attention.

"So you're not a Death Eater then?"

"Of all the questions..No, Harry. I'm not a Death Eater. I promise you." She smiled and took the other butterbeer from the tray, taking a small sip and looking away from Harry's face.

When Harry remained quiet and obviously still unsure of either her or how to proceed, she took a long drink of her butterbeer and launched into an explanation she knew she might come to regret.

"I have to apologize to you Harry. I dropped this huge piece of news on your head and then without explaining or even bothering to give you time to process it I avoided you for a very long time. I owe you an apology for that as well as Mister Malfoy. He however is not here and you are, so I'm sorry for doing that to you, Harry." She didn't fail to notice the color rise in Harry's face when she mentioned Draco Malfoy, but brushed it aside in dismissal and continued.

"What happened tonight is complicated to explain. I answer to higher powers than just the Headmaster. I have a job here at Hogwarts that is far beyond teaching a castle full of adolescents how to defend themselves."

When she paused to draw a breath Harry held his own, fearing she would take back what she said minutes previous and tell him that this higher power was Voldemort. She didn't though.

"I was given orders to interrupt Voldemort's gathering tonight and carry out a task that I can't tell you about. I've told you far too much already and-"

Her eyes went wide for a moment she seemed to stiffen all over. Harry stood halfway from his chair slowly and reached a hand to her just as she seemed to shrink in on herself and then explode outward in a shower of Professor Shutomi colored water drops, all of which instantly evaporated without touching anything other than air in the space of ten seconds.

Stunned beyond belief, Harry stared at the spot his professor occupied for a moment, before vaulting over the back of his armchair and running full tilt for help. From who, he didn't know, only that he didn't understand what had happened so he should find someone who might.

Cursing under his breath, Harry skid to a halt turned and ran back into the room, retrieving his wand and then back out to resume his search for someone who might be able to help. The last person he expected to bowl over in his haste was Luna Lovgood, also pajama clad. He slammed into her side full force, knocking her feet out from under her and causing them both to slide across the stone floor for a few meters before, grasping his head in pain from a knock against the floor, they came to a stop against a wall and Harry looked up into the eyes of Severus Snape, standing over them with an utterly menacing look on his face.

. .. . .. . .. . .. . .. .. .. . .. . .

**A/N:**

**So I think I'm finally getting into the swing of the story now and the words are coming to me easily now, so the only problem I can forsee anytime soon would be getting the real world time to write them all!**

**I don't have a beta so it's difficult to judge the way the story flows on my own and I'm hoping for some sort of constructive criticism from somebody. If there's anyone willing then I would really like to hear what you have to say. If it sucks then please by all means just let me know. I'm really hoping it's not coming out too disjointed or fractured.**

_**IMPORTANT:**_

**As of 1/22/2015 there is an alternate version of this story going up on my account titled 'Revelations V2' in which the Harry/Draco pairing is completely platonic for those readers who find the pairing off putting.**

**To this effect there will be a note going up at both the beginning and the end of Chapter 6**

**As always, I hope everyone is enjoying the story. Happy reading! Please review!**

**-Elebelle**


	10. AN

A/N:

2/21/2015

I HAD A BABY!

Yes, I've been gone for near a month because I just had my second son and have been in recovery from the surgery. Bad bad complications and I've been in and out of the hospital.

I was in the middle of writing chapter 10 of Revelations and shall continue now. I should have the next chapter up in less than a week.

As for Dance With Me and the new parallel to it in the HP verse, Dancing With Dreams, they are soon to be updated and posted respectively as well. I've almost finished the revamp of DWM and the first chapter of DWD shall follow the next day.

-Elebell


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